Foreign and Domestic
by robbiepoo2341
Summary: Not every X-Men problem sticks to the confines of Westchester and New York. Some of them are in space, and some are even as far away as Canada!
1. Space Invaders

**A/N: Hello, and welcome back to the 714 Universe! In case you missed it, this is part of a series, so check out my profile for the reading order (since I have a cowriter, Canucklehead Cowgirl, and we trade off which of us is posting chapters in this universe). But if you're already here and ready to go, who are we to stand in your way? Let's get flying!**

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**Chapter 1: "Space Invaders"**

* * *

Noh was clearly enjoying himself piloting _The Marvel _as he and Jubilee took a tour of the stars. Since he had absolutely no idea what his status on Hala was ever since the failed Kree invasion of Earth — and didn't want to risk finding out — he had been taking them through more neutral sections of space, to some places that he knew would be great for partying _safely. _

Though when he ventured a little closer to Kree space and found that not only was it perfectly Kree-free but that it was very nearly overrun with Shi'ar… he had to pause and frown.

"What's up?" Jubilee asked when she saw the deeply-settled frown — over the sound of the music they had playing as she slid over to him in one of his looser-fitting shirts.

He smiled over at her and had to steal a kiss — just because she looked so wonderful — before he gestured at the holograms he had pulled up on his navigational screens. "There _was _a wonderful sort of… oh, there's not a Terran word for it. It's much like ice cream, but not the same." He pointed at a spot on the map. "They sold it here, and it was far enough on the outskirts of Kree territory that we would be able to visit without drawing attention. And now?" He glared. "The Shi'ar have overrun this area — and there is no more dessert store to be found."

Jubilee frowned at that, leaning over with her chin on his shoulder as he sat at the nav screen. "Do they sell it anywhere else?"

"That was the best spot," Noh said with a sigh. "But if the Shi'ar have made a few inroads into this area, then some of the other places I meant to take you may also be gone." He made a face. "They have _no _appreciation of art or of the finer things in life."

She kept her chin on his shoulder as she watched him glaring at the screens for a while. "Okay," she said at last when the glare wasn't letting up, "it's not just the space ice cream that's got you tweaked."

He glanced up at her and then had to laugh quietly before he pulled her down to kiss her. "Would you be terribly opposed to a quick detour?" he asked when the kiss broke. "I'm curious… the Shi'ar should _not _be this far into Kree territory."

She let out a breath, but when she saw the look he was wearing, she knew it was going to bug him until he looked into it. "You're making this up to me later, mister."

"I'll do one better than that," he teased. "If the Shi'ar are not too far into Kree territory… there is a perfect little dance club on a nearby moon that I think you would enjoy. And from there—" He grinned and kissed her. "—we'll simply have to find a private spot in the stars."

"It's a start," she teased him.

He kissed her again before he returned to what he was doing, navigating the ship further into Kree territory. It had been a while since he was this close to Hala, since he _had _promised Jubilee that he would stay out of trouble with the Kree, but he was starting to suspect that he had missed more than he was entirely comfortable with.

They headed first toward that dance club he had told Jubilee about. After all, they might as well multi-task if they were going to be going into Kree territory. But when they got there, Noh let out a noise of frustration. Once again, the club was gone, and he didn't see any sign of Kree ships, though he _did _see plenty of Shi'ar ships. The only reason they hadn't been stopped, he was sure, was his own shielding technology, which he'd used last time they went to the Shi'ar homeworld — but he had to admit that he was starting to get nervous.

Before they went any further, he hid the _Marvel _on the far side of an asteroid from the club and then called up the Chicago school — specifically, he called up Peter Quill.

"I know you have been on Earth for a while," Noh said, "but have you or the Guardians heard anything about the Shi'ar making inroads into Kree territory?"

Quill seemed surprised by the question, though he nodded thoughtfully. "They've been an issue pretty much since the Kree failed so spectacularly at invading Earth."

"They failed spectacularly as well."

"Yeah, but they retreated faster," Quill pointed out. "They didn't spend as many resources." He leaned back as he thought about it. "They were quiet for a while after that incident with the Phoenix. You know, the _other _spectacular failure and execution attempt? But I know they've been pressing every advantage they can get while the Kree are in-fighting."

Noh frowned at that. "Clearly, I have been away from home too long. I thought they'd have found some kind of settlement by now."

Quill shook his head. "Under what leadership?" he pointed out. "Last time I spoke with the Guardians, Hala was fractured, and the Shi'ar were taking whatever they could while the Kree were distracted."

"And the Guardians?"

Quill shrugged. "Well, when I _left_, there was a lot of Shiar fighting involved. I'm pretty sure that hasn't changed. But, you know, that's just a given."

Noh shook his head as he thought it over. "Thank you," he said. "I think I would like to see for myself just how far the Kree have allowed the Shi'ar to get."

"You gonna run 'em out singlehanded?"

"I may," Noh shot back with a small smirk. "That _is _what I was bred to do, after all: defend the Empire and all that."

Quill chuckled. "Yeah. Right. Aren't you supposed to be on your anniversary?"

Noh made a dismissive motion with one hand. "It's already interfered with my plans to take Jubilee to some of the places I knew before the Shi'ar made such inroads," he said. "I'm simply satisfying my curiosity."

"And if you decide it's time to run 'em out singlehanded?"

"Then I will ask Jubilee if she minds terribly showing off her beautiful mutation for a little exercise before we go back to our trip to the stars," Noh said, leaning back where he was sitting to look his wife's way with a winning smile.

"_If _I agree to this," Jubilee said in a haughty tone, "then I shall require a formal 'thank you' from whatever big headed Kree jerkwad is in charge. Or I will blow them up too."

"Good luck with that one," Quill said from the monitor. "Half the problem is that no one's exactly in charge over there. I think one guy made it a year? But he was too radical and got overthrown. It got hard to keep track."

Noh looked alarmed at that. "That does _not _sound like the Kree," he said softly. "We value order, structure…"

"Yeah, I've read the brochure," Quill said.

Noh shot him a dry look. "I just mean that the Kree in _my _home dimension would _not _have problems like this." He let out a breath. "Thank you, Peter. I'm sure I've got a lot to catch up on if I've missed something as important as my homeworld losing its structure and purpose."

"If it makes you feel any better," Quill offered, "as I understand it, it's actually a good thing, depending on how you look at it."

"_How_." Noh looked completely disbelieving as he stared at Quill.

"Well," Quill said, "they can't decide on a leader because they're trying to _decide _on a leader. You know. Instead of just… following the big talking head."

That had Noh perking up, clearly interested. "Really?"

"Oh yeah." Quill nodded. "Turns out nobody wants to follow the leader if it means dumb decisions. Like taking on the X-Men and stuff like that."

"Yeah, _that _is a bad decision and a half," Jubilee agreed.

"Undoubtedly," Noh said, leaning over to kiss her cheek before he nodded toward Quill. "Thank you for the information. I'm sure we won't need to contact you again; I'm simply curious to see how far the Shi'ar have gotten."

"Yeah, well, if it's a real problem, lemme know," Quill said. "I haven't flown full-throttle space travel in a while. Kinda miss it."

"Any excuse," Jubilee teased him.

"Yeah, pretty much," Quill agreed. "Happy anniversary, by the way. Make him take you to the place on the edge of what used to be the Skrull Empire. _Way _far off the beaten path? But so, so worth it. Someone gave 'em a classic Earth music selection and a jukebox. It's kind of amazing."

"Wonder who that was," she said.

"We'll never know," Quill replied before he laughed and ended the communication, leaving Noh and Jubilee in the _Marvel _as Noh leaned back to look at her.

"I know it's our anniversary," he said slowly, "and I promise I will make it up to you. But I can't just ignore the fact that the Shi'ar are creeping in on the Kree."

Jubilee sighed dramatically. "Fine. It's not like it's our anniversary unless we're doing something stupid and dangerous anyhow."

He smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "And besides," he said, "you look so beautiful illuminated by all the colors of your explosions."

"You are terribly biased," she said with her nose in the air. "But I'll allow it."

He kissed her again, smiling broadly. "And there is simply nothing wrong with my bias. In fact, it's to be expected."

"It is," she agreed, spinning on her toes as she took long strides to where she could watch him fly easier.

It didn't take them long to get further into what _used to be _Kree territory, though the deeper they got into it, the more Shi'ar they saw - which was worrying to Noh. If the Shi'ar were on the outskirts of Kree territory, it would be one thing, but the fact that their numbers were increasing closer to Hala - that could only mean trouble.

He was about to tell Jubilee as much when the indicator light went off on the left side of the cockpit telling him that his ship had been detected - clearly the Shi'ar had finally seen him, probably from an actual window, since his shielding was still good, as far as he was aware. He banked hard to avoid the Shi'ar ship that shot toward them.

"Well," he said, taking the controls in a slightly harder grip. "That didn't take long."

"Never does when we have things to do," Jubilee agreed, already buckling in for the wild ride that was sure to come.

Once one of the Shi'ar ships had figured out that something was up with Noh's ship, the others weren't far behind, following the lead of the first ship to dive after Noh as the smaller ship spun and twisted, maneuvering faster than the Shi'ar could keep up with - though the bigger craft were faster.

When another two Shi'ar ships seemed to appear just past the rings of a nearby planet, Noh swore in Kree under his breath before he pulled them into a tight spin, barely screeching into a dive below the ships ahead of them before they started to open fire.

"And now it gets interesting," Noh muttered and the _Marvel _didn't even need the prompting to put weapons in front of him - and in front of Jubilee, shifting the controls to in front of her so that she didn't have to unbuckle.

With both of them manning the weapons, they were giving the Shi'ar a real headache and keeping them back from the ship - and the _Marvel _herself seemed to be helping, twisting out of reach of weapons blasts if Noh was too busy firing to do so or course-correcting to line up a good shot for one of the two of them.

And, of course, when the _Marvel _did finally take a direct hit, she seemed to take it personally, firing back at the ship that had hit her without any prompting from either Noh or Jubilee as Noh couldn't help but smooth his hand over the controls affectionately. "Shame on them," he practically purred as the ship thrummed with energy.

Finally, with a particularly fancy bit of flying, Noh sent them screaming around the planet rings and then screeching to a halt, hiding in the dust trails and completely still, the same color and size as much of the ice at first glance.

"Shi'ar scout ships," Noh said like a curse after a moment as they caught their breaths from the adrenaline of the fight.

"I think … when they pass, we should hail Peterquill," Jubilee said, watching the displays.

"Agreed," Noh said, half his attention on making sure the ship's self-healing capabilities were being put to good use. "I'm sure if he had known the Shi'ar had a military presence this close to Hala - so much that they are defending it from even ships like ours - he would have told us as much." He frowned. "The problem has gotten to be more than I can ignore - _because _we have ignored it."

"So," Jubilee said slowly. "We rally the troops and go kick alien butt, right?"

"Of course," Noh agreed, checking the displays again to see if the Shi'ar had passed them so that they could contact Peter Quill.

It took some time, with the Shi'ar making a few passes through the rings to try to find Noh's ship, but eventually, the scout ships moved off, and just to be sure, Noh waited a bit longer before he called Quill again.

Though he had hardly made the call before the alarms went off again, and he swore under his breath as he went back to the controls. "Stupid," he berated himself. The Shi'ar must have had similar shielding technology to his own. Or perhaps technology they had stolen from _his _people.

"Already found something?" Quill asked over the comms when he picked up on the other end, though Noh just bared his teeth at him.

"Now is not the time - I'll call you back," he said, switching off the call a split second before the Shi'ar hit the _Marvel _with another direct blast that shuddered the ship but didn't quite make it through the shields - though Noh was not sure they could take another hit like that.

"What can I do to help?" Jubilee asked.

"Just keep shooting them out of the sky if you can," Noh said. "We should be able to outmaneuver them if we thin their numbers."

"If I can," Jubilee muttered with a little grin, falling right into rapid fire while singing under her breath the most cheerful tune she could think of.

Despite the situation, Noh was smiling at the songs Jubilee pulled out of her hat. There was something about flying to his wife's soundtrack that made the whole thing a little more fun - and easier.

And then of all things, the ship got a little boost when Jubilee discovered a single panel on the Shi'ar crafts that would allow a direct hit to ricochet _and _cause critical damage to said craft. "Oooh, that's fun! Try that one," she called out, dancing in her chair with a grin.

"My Jubilee, you are, as ever, a genius," Noh called back to her, smiling widely as he switched his targeting to take advantage of what she'd found. "This is new - the old models don't have that flaw."

"Ooooh!" she said, grinning wider. "I wonder if I can do this like pool and do _bank shots!_ Alien a-hole, corner pocket!"

Noh just chuckled to himself even as the ship seemed to be responding better to his commands despite the hits it had taken. With Jubilee having so many epiphanies from her firing patterns alone, the imagination engines were getting a serious boost.

But then, he'd known this about her. It was one of the reasons he'd married her - she was brilliant, and creative.

He spotted the opening the moment that she made it for him - taking down a key ship in the Shi'ar formation for just long enough that he had the engines screaming to push them through the hole. From there, it was a simple matter of laying down the speed faster than the Shi'ar could get after them.

But rather than point them away from the trouble, Noh was steering them deeper into Kree space. "Jubilee, if you could call up Peter Quill again," he said. "They already know we're here - we may as well signal for backup."

"You've got it, sweetheart," she sang out cheerfully, trying - and succeeding at keeping her mood high. She twirled in her seat as she called up Quill. "Ooh, hey. Brother in law - or something. Whatever. So. The Shi'ar are being amazingly obnoxious? And we're totally getting chased. Like. You know. Half the fleet is here at _least._ So … if you're not doing anything more pressing? Maybe … you know. You could bring me a cherry coke? And some back up too, if it's not too much trouble."

"You want any Twizzlers with the cherry Coke or is this a liquid-snack-only kind of emergency call?" Quill asked, though it was clear he was moving to get the others in the school up and moving.

"Oh, I am a little past Twizzlers right now? But Sour Patch Kids — Oooh! Or Warheads — would totally hit the spot if you have any. Otherwise, all I've got right now is bubblegum for ass kicking, and I got plenty of gum to go around."

"Save me a stick of the grape flavor — that's my favorite," Quill told her as she heard him call out to Rachel briefly to tell her that they 'needed to go to space to save my sister-in-law and her husband's emotional wreck of a ship'.

"She is not an emotional wreck," Jubilee defended in a laugh. "We've been flying circles around these losers! I'll send you my firing patterns. Something really cool happens when you hit one little panel."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, sure, yeah, you've hit the manic settings on the _Marvel_," Quill said.

"Manic Panic! Ooh! That reminds me — I think I need to get Kate to put a hot pink streak in my hair," Jubilee laughed.

"You should," Noh called out to her as he performed a tricky little spin that one of their Shi'ar pursuers couldn't follow to reverse course and speed in the other direction. "You would look wonderful." He paused as he pushed the engines a little further and then, once he'd shaken the scout ship, grinned her way. "That is — you would look even more wonderful than you do now, a feat I would never have thought possible."

"I know what you meant," she said, looking at him over the back of her chair, hanging her head upside down and still spinning, though he noticed she had a few sparks flying from her fingers. "Don't mind me," she said, waving one hand at him. "Charging up. Just in case."

"You are always so lovely when you are preparing for war," he said with a fond smile her way before he turned his attention back to piloting.

She grinned back at him, keeping up the good mood to help the _Marvel _— since she was always helped along by good emotions. And clearly, Jubilee needed to give her a boost, because Noh's narrowed-eyes look was only getting stronger and stronger the further they got into what used to be Kree territory and he could see just how deeply the Shi'ar had made inroads.

He was muttering under his breath, even after they lost their tails, and moved on to carefully steering the _Marvel _through space and taking in all the Shi'ar ships and outposts where they had not been before. And the more he saw of it, the more he was angry — at the Shi'ar for moving against the Kree, at the Kree for allowing it to happen, at himself for not knowing that he was _needed_.

After all, his people might have considered him to be a traitor, and he might consider his people to be shortsighted fools, but he didn't want them to be overrun by the _Shi'ar_, and he still felt a sense of duty to them, though whether that was simply because of how he was raised or because he had a duty as an X-Man to help those in trouble, he wasn't entirely sure. It was probably a combination of both.

They hadn't quite reached Hala before the concentration of Shi'ar was too thick to be anything but an occupying force — or perhaps an invading one; it depended entirely on how long they had been there.

Noh checked his sensors, pushing them as far out as they would go until he could definitely confirm that the Shi'ar were swarming at Hala itself, before he simply called over to Jubilee, "This is a much worse problem than Peter Quill represented it to be," as he pushed the ship in closer. Though even that attempt at a lighthearted tease died as soon as he had said it as he glared at the Shi'ar ships on the screen.

"I think that's usually the case with Peterquill," Jubilee replied. "He undersells bad things and oversells minor ones."

"Considering this is my home world, I think we are going to have to talk with him about what constitutes an 'important' report," Noh muttered low.

He took the _Marvel _in a little closer, testing the boundaries of the Shi'ar reach, until finally, it looked like he had pushed the boundaries a bit too far. Some of the battleships took notice of the small Kree craft at last and came shooting their way — though Noh was sure to lead them on a merry chase until they were further from the main fleet and close enough to a nebula that the Shi'ar sensors might not pick up the firefight. Then, he spun around to fire on them, deciding he could pick them off a few at a time while they waited for heavier backup from Earth.

The Shi'ar ships followed, not about to let the insult stand of a Kree ship _shooting _at them, and Noh almost smiled. He slammed on the brakes and spun around behind them to open up an easier target for Jubilee to hit the panels she'd discovered, and at that, he did start to grin.

"HA!" Jubilee shouted triumphantly, dancing in her seat as she continued shooting. "Bank shot! Two for one!"

"It _is _our anniversary trip," he laughed. "Any excuse to spoil you."

"Oh, sweetheart, no reason to start a war for that," she teased. "We already did that once."

"It seems to be our signature move," he shot back with a smile as he pushed the ship around so he could open fire as well, taking advantage of the panel she had found.

The disabled Shi'ar ships, however, had clearly called for help — if the other ships coming their way were anything to go by — and Noh was already moving to get the _Marvel _into position so they could keep up their rapid-fire assault. Before they could get moving, though, another ship joined the fray — definitely Kree by design, though wearing plenty of battle scars, and a little bigger than Noh's personal craft.

Noh smiled but didn't bother trying to hail the other craft, not in the middle of everything else going on. Instead, he kept an eye on the newcomer, observing his maneuvers until he had a pretty good idea of the style so he could run alongside the new guy. And, to his surprise, he found that a lot of the ship's flying style was similar to that of the Accuser Corps — though not quite the rigid formations that they relied on.

With the addition of that second ship, they were able to cut through several more Shi'ar ships before the newcomer spun toward them and zoomed over their starboard engine, headed away from the fight but clearly nearly tagging them as a signal to follow.

Noh paused for a moment. He did want to give the Shi'ar a black eye, and they were definitely doing a good job of that, but at the same time, it would be wiser to get an idea of what they were up against.

He spun the _Marvel _and followed the other Kree craft as they sped away from the fight. Thankfully, the Shi'ar had enough of a bloody nose that they couldn't keep up with the smaller, speedier ships, and Noh followed the newcomer closely until they came around the dark side of a nearby moon and touched down.


	2. The Cavalry Has Arrived

**Chapter 2: "The Cavalry Has Arrived"**

Noh and Jubilee were a bit surprised when the Kree craft's cockpit opened, and a familiar face greeted them — looking annoyed as he climbed down and then stalked over to the two of them.

"What were you thinking, picking a fight with a fleet?" Sinta demanded rather than going through anything like an introduction. He wasn't wearing the Accuser armor that they were so used to seeing, his ship was even more worn down up-close than it had looked in the air, and he was carrying more normal weapons, not the Accuser stock, except for a few stasis field generators that looked pretty beat up. "Were you _trying _to get killed? Or captured?"

"We were trying to save your ugly butts," Jubilee countered. "Or did you miss the fact that we were utterly handing them their backsides?"

"You were up against a fleet _far _bigger than you realize," Sinta shot back. "And this is _not _where the fight is, anyway." He shook his head as he looked between the two of them. "Is this all you brought? Really? The defense of Hala itself is only worth two of you?"

"Well, had you _told us _that you needed help …" Jubilee said with a clear measure of heat, her hands on her hips.

Sinta looked even more annoyed at that. "Do you think for a second that if we had access to communications equipment, we would not have used it?"

"Probably not," she said. "You don't have a good history of admitting you need _help._"

Sinta shook his head at her. "I _was _sneaking past the Shi'ar fleet to do just that when I saw the two of you on your suicidal run," he told her. "Otherwise, I would not be this far from Hala."

"Good for you we already sent out an SOS," Jubilee told him.

"How long have the Shi'ar been at Hala?" Noh asked, cutting across the argument before it could get too heated.

"Far longer than they should be," Sinta said, turning his way with a look of clear anger. "A little over two of Earth's years ago, by your reckoning, they started up an assault that we were not prepared to deal with." He shook his head. "And then a year ago when they were able to destroy the Supremor… too many Kree were unable to see the way forward, at least not fast enough to rally to drive them out."

"So it's been a year," Noh said.

"Less than that," Sinta said. "We did manage some resistance, but now…" He let his shoulders drop and shook his head lightly. "Hala is overrun. The Shi'ar are doing as they have always done: taking what they want, destroying everything else, and gloating all the while."

"Then it's time someone taught them some manners," Jubilee replied, arms crossed over her chest.

"That _is _the plan," Sinta said with almost a smirk her way. "Lest you think our people have just rolled over, we _are _doing what we can to bloody the Shi'ar in any way we can." He looked between the two of them. "You said you had called for backup?" he asked.

"Yep, pretty sure the Guardians will be on their way," Jubilee said with her nose up in the air. "And I know the X-Men will be with them. You're welcome."

Sinta let out a breath but did at least seem to be a little less peeved than before. "Thank you," he said, tipping his head at the two of them.

"In the meantime," Noh said with the slightest of smiles, "why don't we make our way to Hala? If that is where the trouble is, then we will go to the trouble."

"Trouble finds us," Jubilee sang quietly.

"Yes, but it's nice every once in a while to mean to find it," Noh replied with a little laugh her way.

"Maybe it would be easier if I went with you," Sinta offered. "One ship is easier to hide than two, and it seems the pair of you are woefully uninformed about everything that has happened."

"We can patch it through to Quill," Jubilee said to Noh. "Then they'll know what they're fling into."

"Smart and beautiful," Noh said, one arm around her shoulders as they headed back into the _Marvel_. "How _did _I get to be so lucky?"

"No idea, but you are," she said, nodding thoughtfully as they waited for Sinta.

The former Accuser shook his head at the pair of them, climbing into the _Marvel _before the opening closed up behind him and he spun to face it, his head tipped slightly to the side at the psionic hum traveling through the ship. "This… is not like any ship we have."

"No," Noh agreed, sounding almost smug about it. "But then, the Hala I came from was far more advanced — and had control and order across _several _universes. But yours is still in its fledgling stages; so there is no need to feel too badly."

Sinta shook his head as he sat down on the other side of Jubilee. "I suppose it's lucky you two were in the area when you were. But what _were _you doing here, if you knew nothing of the takeover on Hala?"

"It's called a 'va-ca-tion'," Jubilee said slowly. "Where you stop running in circles and relax for a few minutes."

"That and we are celebrating ten years together," Noh said. "It seemed like a good time to see the stars and all they have to offer. We have been fairly busy with Terran affairs and needed the break."

Sinta looked between the two of them for a moment. "Well then," he said slowly, "let me offer you congratulations on the occasion, at least."

"Thank you," Jubilee replied brightly with almost a curtsey. "So. Tell us all about what's happening so we can kick some Shi'ar butt."

Sinta smirked her way for a moment but waited until the _Marvel _had Peter Quill on the viewscreen — along with a few other X-Men like Rachel and Bobby that he'd clearly picked up at the school to pull into the mission — before he began his explanation, starting at the beginning by detailing how the Kree had been fractured ever since their failed attempt to invade Earth. "That is why we have not seen each other in so long, I'll admit," he said. "We've been so focused on our domestic problems that your Earth, even though we consider it to be under our protection, has been out of our minds."

"Besides which I think you'll find that Earth does not need the Kree to protect it," Noh said with a little smirk, and to his surprise, Sinta nodded his agreement.

"True enough," he said. "But that is not the point. The point is that we have been so wrapped up in our own struggles, especially when so many of us returned from the invasion disillusioned with the war we had been told to fight, that we didn't see the Shi'ar amassing power until they were practically upon us."

"Still," Noh said, shaking his head slightly, "even distracted Kree should be able to easily dispatch the Shi'ar. At one point, they were subject to the Kree Empire, and now the roles are reversed?"

"A years-long civil war is not so small a distraction as you seem to think it is," Sinta said, glaring slightly Noh's way. "You have no idea the damage we have done to each other since Ronan's death."

"Yeah, I'd feel worse about that if, y'know, he hadn't tried to execute our friends and take over our whole planet," Bobby broke in over the comms, frowning over Quill's shoulder.

"You pick up anyone from Westchester yet?" Jubilee asked.

"Just about there," Quill told her. "Just waiting on them, really. There was a dustup with Charlie — she's fine — but it was just a few days ago and they're still in recovery mode."

"So our fearless leader probably won't be going, will he?" Jubilee asked.

"Not considering it was a dustup involving Mr. Glowy Red Eyes," Quill said, not using Sinister's name in front of Sinta just in case.

"Wait, _what_?"

"Yeah, we'll tell you about it when we meet up with you," Bobby said. "Rachel just got back to Chicago when you called, so she can give you the finer details." He tipped his head to the side. "But, you know, seeing as Logan was on the team to get Charlie out, he _might _be in the mood to hit some stuff."

"He's … _always _in the mood to hit stuff," Jubilee pointed out. "So, yes. Bring the Stabbies. It'll be _fun._"

"We're bringing Tommy too. He needs to get out of the house and blow some stuff up and stop stressing over his grandfather going out on dates." Bobby chuckled. "May even bring Casa-neto himself if we can get him away from Peter's aunt."

At that, Jubilee fell apart laughing. "Oh, my, _God,_ Bobby Drake … that … just paints a picture!"

"Doesn't it?" Bobby asked, laughing hard himself.

"Maybe we can leave this charming reunion for a little later," Sinta cut in with a small frown.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy," Jubilee told him. "We're going to fix this little mess."

"You won't call it such a 'little' thing when we get to Hala," Sinta countered, shaking his head. "One of the Imperial Shi'ar has been running the capital — a woman called Warbird."

"Ooooooh, you hear that Bobby?" Jubilee cackled. "Your ex-girlfriend is running Hala!"

"See, _I _was funny, _you _are not," Bobby said, shaking his head at her before he grinned over at Rachel. "Got a much prettier bird anyway athankyouverymuch."

"Oh my gosh, I never realized you had a feather fetish," Jubilee said, standing up and walking away from the screens with both hands up at ear level.

"Yeah, don't let Warbird hear _that_ little tidbit," Quill said, chuckling as he shook his head. "Then she'll get her feathers in a huff that they weren't pretty enough or whatever."

"Oh, they so aren't," Jubilee said. "But I'm sure we can bring down morale in front of her troops. We know enough about her."

"She has been a thorn in the Kree's side for some time — essentially since she left your school," Sinta said with a _look _Jubilee's way. "What you did to offend her, I'm not sure. Even when I was captive there, I was treated well… after your friend was through with her questions."

"We allowed a Kree to walk freely without being harassed by her stupidity," Jubilee said. "Logan put his foot down and told her to quit bothering Noh."

Sinta looked toward Noh, and Noh shrugged. "I had promised not to start any fights," he said mildly.

"And she thought she could get away with it, like she had favoritism or something." Jubilee shrugged. "She was wrong."

"And it probably didn't help that I married into the X-Men," Noh pointed out. "She left around that time. Jealousy, I'm sure."

Sinta nodded with the slightest smirk. "She is prone to excessive emotional outbursts," he agreed. "It's terribly entertaining, when we're able to strike blows against the Shi'ar, to watch her steam."

"We've dealt with her often enough," Noh said with a nod. "In fact, my Jubilee not too long ago simply devastated her in a fight — a fair fight."

"I can take her even if she fights dirty," Jubilee said, thumbing the side of her nose. "I know all the tricks. She's goin' down."

Noh smiled at her and kissed the side of her head. "I know that. I simply meant that you could take her without any help. People so often, and so wrongly, underestimate you, my Jubilee."

"It seems to be a recurring theme with a _lot _of Terrans," she said, glancing at Sinta with just a whisper of a smirk.

Sinta held up both of his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "That is no longer the case for me, I assure you."

"Anything else we should know?" Rachel asked, pulling them back on track.

"Yes," Sinta said, turning back to the screen. "Warbird's superiors occasionally will visit — and when that happens, everything she does is public, designed to clamp down on Hala and show Shi'ar superiority. If the other Imperial Shi'ar arrive while you are here, we will have our work cut out for us — moreso than we do now."

"Let them try and stop us," Noh said with a wave. "They've been allowed free reign far too long, and it's time they learned fear and respect of the Kree."

* * *

Quill's ship landed just outside of a lesser-used area of Hala, near one of the poles where Accusers used to train — though of course, the training center was abandoned from the civil war and invasion. But Sinta knew how to get them into the best hidey-holes there, and he directed their landing to the hidden hangar, where a few other fairly beat-up ships were stashed as well, looking almost worse for wear than the one Sinta had been flying.

Noh and Sinta had been talking together for some time, outlining a plan for the best way to move forward. There were other Kree that had been resisting the Shi'ar spread out all over the planet; the thought was that if they could retake the capital, that would go a long way toward shaking the Shi'ar hold on the rest of Hala, and the other groups could follow their lead.

But they stopped their planning when Quill's ship arrived, instead moving to meet the reinforcements.

"Some anniversary trip, Noh," America teased her friend, bounding off of the ship first ahead of all the rest so she could get her razzing in. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time. Your Glitter Queen's gonna leave you for me at this rate with all the anniversary nonsense." To accentuate the point, she shot a teasing, flirtatious wink Jubilee's way.

"Then I'd officially get to start pushing for grandkids," K said America's way, working on the quick shut down. "Sweet, frizzy-haired little babies…."

"Yeah, you and Lucy need to _stop _that."

"What? You afraid of being the one _getting _kicked for once?"

"Afraid? No. But I've seen what happens to the lady heroes who get pregnant, and I happen to _like _kicking butt and taking names and not being benched."

"So you're against getting spoiled," K said, nodding along and rising to the occasion to help Jubilee tease America. "And causing the guys cardiac arrest with the simplest of tasks … that can be fun. Ask Scott."

America rolled her eyes at K and punched her lightly to get her to stop. "You're kidding, right? _Lucy _wouldn't bat an eye. Guys are babies."

"I'll have Kurt arrange for a bamf to bring you slushies," she said, keeping her gaze forward even as Logan put his arm around her shoulders. "Whenever you need them."

America was shaking her head as the rest of the group deplaned — though while she and K were joking around, it seemed that their host had gone a paler shade of blue than usual on seeing just who was with Quill on the ship.

Sinta cleared his throat as he turned toward Quill. "The Guardians…?"

"Are on the way," Quill said. "I brought the X-Men. My team's pulling together a few faster ships right now, waiting for final coordinates and whatever the battle plan ends up being."

Sinta nodded at that. "We would have called for the Guardians earlier, but we have to get past the Shi'ar blockade of the planet to get communication through."

"Yeah, there's not going to be a blockade by the time they get here," Quill said, nodding.

"Good." Sinta nodded sharply. "I'm ready for these imbeciles to be _off _this planet."

"We'll start with the capital," Noh told Quill.

"Show us the plan," Logan said, not giving away his amusement in the least, considering that it was painfully obvious that Sinta was doing all he could to ignore not only K but Rachel as well, though Rachel was far more entertained by the whole thing.

_You know he's having flashbacks, _Rachel projected to K, shaking her head.

_Oh, you probably don't want to see that, _K replied. _I'm pretty sure I was a little bit ticked off the last time I was around an Accuser. _

_I'm not looking, but he's fairly freaked, so I'm seeing some anyway. _

_Hmm,_ K mused. _Let's try something. _ She and Logan followed the group inside to where their plans were laid. Before long, all them were going over the plans with a fine-toothed comb, with Sinta explaining to everyone in attendance exactly how he thought it should go down. Partway through, Logan found a flaw in the attack and pointed it out, which got almost a glare from the former Accuser — especially because it was something that Noh and Jubilee had pointed out before.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" K asked, perfectly straight-faced while meeting Sinta's gaze and effectively shutting him down. "My husband has over a century of fighting under his belt. Would you like to tell me you are more equipped to know where these rats will hide? Especially when he's spent time with Warbird?"

"Everything else looks good," Logan clarified, carefully keeping from laughing, since she'd truly insulted the Kree Accuser on multiple levels. "But she will use this like a funnel to trap us. That's her signature move."

"We'll concentrate our forces here, then," Noh said, leaning past Sinta as he glared wordlessly, unable to even _begin _to address K after that. "If she's looking to funnel us, then she will be waiting here." He tapped a spot on the map and looked up at Logan. "Do you think you two would like to play there — or would you prefer the assault with the rest of us?" he asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, absolutely," Logan replied. "Been a little while since the two of us have gotten to stretch like this. Just send 'em our way."

Sinta cleared his throat and tapped a different spot on the map. "I'll send my forces here, then," he said. "Unless you prefer the backup, I doubt you'll need it."

"Don't need it," Logan said, shaking his head. "We're just looking forward to kickin' 'em outta where they shouldn't be."

"I can have the Guardians giving us aerial support," Quill said, grinning widely. "Make sure the Shi'ar don't try to get out before you guys're done with 'em."

"Yeah, we'll make sure they know not to bother Hala again," K agreed. "Hopefully, they're smart and we won't have to make an example out of anyone."

"Not that you would complain," Sinta shot her way almost under his breath.

"Not if it's Shi'ar I'm cutting into," she breathed back loud enough she knew he could hear it.

"You were not so discriminate last time we met," he said, this time meeting her gaze with a serious glare.

"That would be because you were trying to get into _my _home," she countered. "I happen to have a soft spot for Kree. You should know that."

"Yes, while I was captive on Earth, I did hear of your exploits with Noh-Varr," Sinta said.

"Oh, that too," K replied. "I killed the ones I didn't like."

"You'll forgive me if I don't count myself lucky," Sinta said.

"You should," Logan told him. "She would have made that last a lot longer if she didn't like you."

Sinta turned toward Logan this time before he shook his head hard. "The invasion itself should never have taken place; the Kree Empire has crumbled since then. So you'll forgive me if my memories of that time are not as rosy as yours are."

The two ferals squared up with him, though clearly not aggressively. "It wasn't rosy for anyone," Logan told him. "But if we held a grudge, not one of us would be here to help you deal with this little problem."

Sinta stood up a little straighter and met their gaze. "And for that I've already expressed my thanks."

"So relax, then," K said. "We're here to save Kree lives, right?"

Sinta nodded her way. "And again, I'm grateful for that. And I do not hold a grudge against the X-Men. They were kinder captors than could be dreamed of." He glanced toward K. "Kinder than you were treated, I know. And still." He shook his head. "You'll forgive me for being wary."

"That just means you're not an idiot," she replied.

Sinta tipped his head in acknowledgement of that fact. "I learned much when I was on Earth — including the idea that leaders could be questioned." He gestured with one hand toward the surface of Hala. "And you see what it has wrought."

"You just need to assert yourself as a leader," Logan told him. "Don't wait for someone else to do it. You'll be fine." He looked over at the other Kree watching the conversation. "So. You wanna get this show on the road, or are we supposed to have a hand-holding session or something?"

Sinta gave him a dry look. "If you need the extra time to prepare, then take it, but we don't need to move out for another thirty minutes at most. I thought it would be better to prepare your team — you haven't been to Hala for some time."

Logan nodded and took K's hand to pull her closer. "So show us what we need to know."

Sinta gestured at the maps as if to say 'I am' before he shook his head, rolled his eyes, and started to outline how the capital city had changed since Warbird took it over, which buildings were no longer in existence and which buildings and areas contained Sinta's friends who could be counted on to get them _out _if things went horribly wrong or if someone was injured badly enough to need the help.

"Do your friends need a clear path out?" K asked.

Sinta shook his head. "These are all Kree who choose to stay where they are," he explained. "They want to be in place should any of us be captured — so they can alert the rest of the rebellion and try to get us out if possible. We've avoided a few public executions that way."

"Any kids in there?" Logan asked.

Sinta looked almost insulted. "Of course not," he said. "No one untrained should be in the capital. At all."

"Good," he said, nodding. "Then if I see any young Kree, I'll have a good reason to tear things up a little rougher."

"If you see any young Kree, it is because the Shi'ar have taken them," Sinta said. "They are gathering workers to shape the planet to their liking."

"Which they have a nasty habit of, right?" K asked, glaring.

"They do," Sinta agreed, then paused. "I should add: if any of us _are _captured, there is a sizeable workforce just beyond the capital — forced work, obviously, mostly children — but if we aren't publicly punished, it's likely we'd be sent there. Even as a temporary measure before execution."

Logan and K shared a glance, though not a word was spoken as they weighed that little tidbit out.

"We'll free them after we liberate the capital," Noh suggested.

"Great," Logan agreed. "You got anything to add, Rach?"

Rachel shook her head lightly. "I'll let you know." _And keep an eye out once we get closer, _she added, specifically to Logan and K, since she could tell they were thinking about the workforce Sinta had mentioned. _Probably an easier way in than what you're thinking. _

_Easier than 'accidentally' getting caught? _ Logan projected back.

_You're assuming Warbird would treat you like normal prisoners and not try to pull a Ronan, _Rachel pointed out.

_Fair point,_ K agreed, though she seemed irritated at the logic of it.

_Hey, _Rachel said. _If she did, she wouldn't get nearly that far. I'd set her feathers on fire at her first thought in that direction. _

"Alright, well," Quill said, cutting in, "let's get moving. The sooner we get the Shi'ar gone, the sooner my sister-in-law can get back to her anniversary trip," he added with a teasing grin Jubilee's way and an extra added, "Lookin' out for ya', sis," in a whisper just to get her to laugh at him.

"Yes. Let's go, bro," she countered, giggling to herself as the sparks from her fingers were getting larger.

"Too bad my grandfather's not here or he'd just end the war in, oh… five seconds?" Tommy said, draping an arm over Rachel's shoulder with a grin. "Slayer of the Shi'ar and all that."

"He was good last time," Rachel agreed. "We'll just have to deal with it ourselves … oh, however will that go?"

"Definitely gives us more chances to blow stuff up," Tommy laughed, though he added in a projected thought to Rachel, _Plus he's not really up to space travel. He'll bounce back; he's just… off. _

_That's strange, _Rachel replied. _He always seemed more powerful in space. Are you sure it's not that he's just preoccupied? _

Tommy pulled a face. _Maybe, _he conceded. _But that is not as easy to get my head around as 'Grandpa is getting old.'_

She gave him a fond smile. _You know, whenever he does finally go, they're going to want you to stay. _

Tommy hesitated. _I'm… not really thinking that far ahead. _

_I know,_ she said. _Just don't think that he's the only one that wants you around. _

_Oh yeah, I fit in great with the married couples and all their kids and happily-ever-afters, _he said sarcastically. _I'll just help Billy with his. _

_Pay attention to who sticks around you,_ Rachel told him.

Tommy gave her a sideways look and then shrugged lightly. "Anywho," he said aloud. "I'm calling dibs on the first distracting explosion. It's mine."

From there, the X-Men and Kree split into their different ships, headed for the capital city in a staggered formation so as not to draw too much attention — though that just meant that the people in Noh's ship had a little time to kill.

"So you never said what was up with Mr. Red Glowy Eyes," Jubilee pointed out to Bobby. He and Rachel were in the _Marvel _with her and Noh. Quill had the rest in his ship, and Sinta was leading the Kree in the others. "I thought that was taken care of? Like, permanently?"

"It is now," Rachel said firmly. "He tried to hide a piece of himself in Remy's mind, but I got rid of it. Remy's clean now — and I've been looking on Cerebro and haven't found him anywhere else."

"Is Charlie alright?" Noh asked with a small frown. "Even for fully-realized X-Men, he was quite the issue."

"She's alright," Rachel said. "Scared more than anything else, really."

"And you are sure this time that he _is _gone now?" Noh said with one eyebrow raised.

She shrugged. "I can't find him," she said, though she did continue with, "But he apparently hid from us until now. It's unlikely that he's going to be a problem, but I won't go so far as to say he's _gone_ without better proof."

"What brought him out from underneath his rock, anyway?" Noh asked, the frown deepening.

"Charlie getting her powers," Rachel said. "He has always pushed to study Summers' DNA."

Noh made a little noise in the back of his throat, and Jubilee shook her head. "I'll paff him into next week if he shows up again," she said.

"Get in line," Rachel said. "It was amazingly satisfying to burn him out of Remy's mind."

"How's the swamp rat?" Jubilee asked.

"Trying to pretend like it didn't bother him," Rachel said flatly.

Noh shook his head at that. "Really? Even the best of the X-Men have made it clear that Nathaniel Essex is a thorn in their sides. There's no shame in saying he's as horrible as he is."

"You have no idea," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Well then, we'll have to stop by Westchester after we're done here," Noh decided. "Besides, we need to be there later this summer anyway for Kate's newest little one. Did they ever tell you what they are having? I have heard nothing from them," he added, steering the conversation toward something a little brighter.

"To be honest, I'm not sure they've told anyone yet," Rachel said. "And I'm not going to spoil it for anyone."

"Well, either way, we'll be there," Noh said. "And we should bring Sying by if Charlie is having a hard time. He adores your sister."

"It's summertime," she said. "I'm sure they'll have a pool party or something for the kids soon enough."

"And you should bring Willow," Jubilee said, grinning.

"Kitty might even bring Nina," Bobby drawled out, leaning back in his chair. "Get all the grandparents involved."

"And the girls _do _miss their grandparents," Noh said with a crooked smile Jubilee's way. "They've been asking for a visit for months now — something more substantial than a weekend."

"Well ... " Rachel said, pausing for a moment. "Heather and Mac have been asking the Howletts to come up for some time this summer. So…. maybe make them a better offer so my dad doesn't lose his mind."

"With grandchildren to see _and _Kate and Kurt's little one on the way? Surely there is no contest," Noh scoffed.

"Little Oliver has been begging to see Elin since the dance," Rachel said. "Heather is not above using that little freckle-faced sweetheart to meet her own goals, either."

"Well that's too bad. Sying has been wanting to show his grandparents how good he is at fighting now," Jubilee said, drawing herself up. "We're _both _teaching him."

"Usually, this would have been done by the time he was able to properly control his motor functions, but I've been told Terrans do this differently," Noh added with a little smirk. He grinned over at Bobby. "That and he has been so utterly captivated by wanting to be a pirate that there was not room for much else until he learned to sail and handle a blade."

"_No _idea where he's getting the obsession from," Bobby said, leaning back.

"It's a mystery," Jubilee said, shaking her head as the _Marvel _reached the little alcove that Sinta had pointed out to them, where it would be safe to park for a while out of sight of the occupying Shi'ar forces.


	3. Former Allies

**Chapter 3: "Former Allies"**

The capital city had a heavy concentration of Shi'ar — in the streets, in the buildings, you name it. But it was clear that the repurposed trial hall was the center of the activity — and that's where the X-Men were sure they would find Warbird.

A frontal assault would be suicide, but as they'd seen, an assault from belowground would only lead them right into Warbird's clutches — which was, really, why Logan and K would be waiting there anyway, to make her regret wanting them to come down there. So, a little more finesse was needed, an attack from multiple angles.

The full-frontal assault was still happening, this time as a distraction. Tommy had promised that the explosions would be spectacular, America promised to hit everything in sight, and Quill promised to keep the two former Young Avengers from going too far overboard — though considering it was _Quill _making that promise, that wasn't saying much at all.

And while Sinta was leading several Kree in an assault from the east and west, Noh's group would assault the building from the far side.

The moment they heard the first of Tommy's explosions — followed by a delighted laugh that clearly gave away just how much Tommy was enjoying himself when he didn't have to hold anything back — they rushed forward. Noh peeled back part of the wall rather than trying to rush the door; the Shi'ar inside wouldn't expect that. And, as expected, the Shi'ar had been rushing for the door, so they weren't prepared for the assault from the side.

"Surprise!" Jubilee called out happily before she dove in, her plasmoids already building at her fingertips as she went to town. By the time she had let loose only what she'd been building up on the way there, the Shi'ar in the narrow hallway were laid out in a few seconds, and the little group was already moving on to the next hall.

By that time, they'd lost a bit of the element of surprise, and the Shi'ar war cry started to echo through the halls as soldiers poured in to take care of the interlopers — though they were spread out with the assaults from Sinta and the distraction of the massive property damage that Tommy and America were _gleefully _inflicting.

But there were still enough to keep the fight interesting as Noh let out an instinctive, deep hissing noise at the war cry and rushed forward to tear into the nearest Shi'ar. Bobby slid in on an ice path to knock another Shi'ar soldier to the ground, and Rachel and Jubilee blasted through several at a time.

"Going up?" Bobby asked with a crooked grin as they hit the end of the hallway to find an elevator.

"Whichever way Warbird is," Noh agreed.

"And that's up," Rachel said with a smirk Bobby's way.

When the elevator opened again to spill them out onto the floor that Rachel promised would take them to Warbird, the Shi'ar soldiers were heavily concentrated around their leader — those that weren't occupied in the other fights. They all sprang into motion as Warbird screeched for her soldiers to get the invaders, drawing her own blade to join in the fray as well.

"This is your _chosen _leader?" Jubilee snarled out as she blasted back a handful of Shi'ar guards. "She's not even a proper Shi'ar!"

"As if you'd know the first _thing_ about it," Warbird said, snarling to match Jubilee as well as she cut through the ice that Bobby was throwing her way, seemingly more infuriated by the fact that Bobby was there.

"I know you weren't on the same level as the royal family," Jubilee shot back. "And I know you were born to a Shi'ar slave — and that you are secretly an _amazingly talented artist._"

A few of the Shi'ar paused and looked Warbird's way as she screeched her displeasure. "You'll see the talent I have when I tear you apart!"

"No, you're remedial in bodily damage," Jubilee replied. "But those flowers you drew …"

"What is she talking about?" one of the Shi'ar — clearly higher in rank — asked, stepping out of the way of a telekinetically-thrown chair to frown toward Warbird.

"Are you going to believe the claims of a _Terran_?" Warbird sneered his way.

"Everyone at Xavier's was required to _teach_," Jubilee shouted out. "And seeing as we already had the _best _combat teacher, Warbird here _offered _to step in for art class. You could ask the prince. He was there."

Warbird let out a shrill war cry at that, which sounded something like "how dare you" as she launched herself toward Jubilee — though that was only ever going to end the same way it had two years ago with Mojo.

Jubilee sidestepped her but threw a plasma blast nearly as big as Warbird right into where she dove. The explosion that resulted from it was massive, with colored trails of light skittering around the chamber they were standing in. It was enough to make the other Shi'ar in the room pause, especially when they saw Warbird skid against the wall. And when Sinta rushed into the room with several of his own Kree, the truth of the matter was that the Shi'ar were outclassed.

Not that it would stop them from fighting.

The X-Men's ears were ringing from both the Kree and the Shi'ar war cries that rang out as the forces clashed. But for as much as the X-Men were ready to tear the Shi'ar apart, the Kree forces had a whole lot of pent-up aggression to work out toward the Shi'ar, and Sinta's simple command to "go" gave them all the leeway they needed to let it out.

In no time at all, the Shi'ar in the room were all dead — though Warbird had somehow managed to slip off with one of her guards.

* * *

Down below the old trial center, K and Logan waited for everything to fall into place, staying on either side of the road, using their own instincts to their advantage. Anyone that tried to get between them was going to be in trouble. When enough of the Shi'ar were pouring through, the two ferals launched themselves into action, slicing and stabbing as many soldiers as they could with surgical precision, going for either instant kills or damage that would inflict major blood loss.

By the time the two of them met in the middle of the street, they were absolutely surrounded by dead or dying Shi'ar soldiers, so when two Shi'ar in particular — Warbird and her guard — came running out of the building, they weren't hard to miss.

"Do yourself a favor and surrender, Warbird," Logan called out to her. "That's the only way you're walking out of here."

"You've taken _one _building," Warbird sneered. "In a planet full of _my _forces, you think you have such an advantage?"

"If you think you're going to get past _me_? You're the delusional one here." Logan couldn't help but growl. "I'm only asking as a favor to you. If you try to fight me, there's only one way this can possibly go."

Warbird stopped her advance and glared at Logan, and for a moment, she looked like she was considering it. After all, she'd just lost so much face with everything Jubilee had said in front of her soldiers ... though at least those were all dead now…

She slowly shook her head and raised her hands. "This isn't going to last long," she told him. "You're surrounded and outnumbered — and you know it."

Logan tipped his head to the side. "What the hell kind of odds do you think I like? When it's fair? Or when you think it's fair? Either way, I'm _going _to win."

"I'm simply telling you the facts," Warbird said, though she was sneering as she kept her hands raised.

"I've fought through hell with no weapons and won over leagues of demons. This is nothin'."

Warbird fell into a glare at that, with her guard wearing the same sort of expression, though a moment later, the group that had rushed into her office before made its way downstairs. Noh led the way and skidded to a stop with a satisfied, smug look Logan and K's way when he saw the state of affairs.

"Quite the escape you've managed to make," he said Warbird's way.

"As I was just telling Wolverine, this is temporary," Warbird sneered.

"And Logan was telling her that she's clearly off her meds," K replied to Noh as if Warbird was acting like a misbehaving child before she turned to Warbird. "Keep it up and we're going to have to take away your watercolors."

Warbird snarled her way as the rest of Noh's group caught up, with Jubilee and Bobby and Rachel all stopping short of their pursuit when they saw that she was cornered. "What concern is it of yours what I do here, anyway?" she sneered toward the X-Men. "It's been years and you've never cared what happened on Hala."

"I'm sure we'd have been back years ago if someone hadn't cut their communications," Logan pointed out. "We had no reason to think they weren't doing what they always did."

Warbird rolled her eyes. "Of course. I'm sure you cared _deeply _about their welfare after what they did to your planet. You'd think after that display of aggression we would be on the same side — that they should be eradicated."

"They learned not to screw with us about the same time you lost a large section of your fleet," K argued. "How'd you get out of the crunched tin can anyhow?"

"Mine was not one of the ships that was affected," Warbird said.

"So you were one of the first to run," K shot back.

"I was lucky to be on the other side of the fleet," she countered.

"The side leaving after the X-Men entered the fight," Logan agreed with a growl, and looking increasingly angrier. "Because you knew what was going to happen once we showed up."

Warbird sneered his way for that. "And when we win, it will be long overdue."

"Ain't never gonna happen," he snarled back.

"We should take her to the surface," Sinta said as he and a couple other Kree arrived, slightly bloodied from their fight both otherwise alright. "It could make a big difference for the Kree to see her in a state of surrender — not to mention the Shi'ar."

"It'll be my pleasure," Logan managed through gritted teeth as he started to walk toward her.

"You guys — oops — alright?" Bobby asked, sliding a bit on some of the blood from the dead Shi'ar around them as he _meant _to offer a hand to Sinta if he needed it. He slid slightly sideways but not far enough to make a difference, though that still was enough for Rachel to step forward slightly to catch him by the hand. When he righted himself, he grinned crookedly at her an leaned over to steal a quick kiss. "Yeah, we're gonna need a change of venue."

Warbird stiffened on seeing Rachel and Bobby, then let out a shriek as she darted forward toward the pair of them, clearly meaning to tear into both of them. She hit Logan in the shoulder hard, spinning him as she passed him, but that was the final straw for him. Before she'd made it another handful of steps, he'd caught up to her, snarling and furious. He tackled her a few yards away from the couple, and after an amazingly brief scuffle, Logan stood up with his claws dripping. "I've had enough of this crap. Let's drag her up and put down a few rules about how this is gonna be."

Sinta winced slightly, not out of sympathy for Warbird but because he could remember his own experience with claws, but nodded his agreement. "There's a spot in the center square most people can see from the surrounding buildings."

K turned to the guard that Warbird had tried to run with. "You can carry her."

The guard looked between the group of X-Men and seemed to decide that arguing wasn't in his best interests — though he made no move to step toward Warbird either, simply glaring at all of them.

"Or you can run. How fast are you?" K offered.

"Not faster than me," Noh said with a crooked smile, which had the guard more nervous.

"Once we get up there, we'll leave it to you," Logan said to Sinta. "If you have trouble getting their attention, we'll step in."

"We still have a lot to do," Sinta said. "Freeing the Kree further out from here, securing the planet…"

"We'll help you make your mission statement," K told him. "First step, though, is to clear out Hala, right?"

"Yes, obviously," Sinta said, as Noh prodded Warbird's guard into picking her up at last. "But I'm not going to be making long speeches when we could go directly to the work camp from here. We have much to do."

"So tell your men that," Logan said.

Sinta tipped his head to the side for a moment before, finally, he nodded. "Right then," he said, striding past the group of them toward the surface as he gave a few commands into his comm — assigning men to the building they had just taken as well as coordinating the next mission.

Sinta hit the surface first, with Warbird's guard carrying her body behind him. By that time, several of the Shi'ar were starting to pour out onto the rooftops and into other areas — those that hadn't been fighting were ready to fight anyone who came out. So they were not at all prepared to see the woman who had been running things dead in the arms of her bodyguard, with a battered-looking Kree striding ahead of them.

"Your occupation is over," Sinta called out. "Your leader is dead, and our forces are stronger than you realize."

A Shi'ar captain hit the street, shaking his head at Sinta's words with a sneer. "We're not as easily cowed as you Kree," he said. "You think because you fell so easily after your god died you can do the same to us with one commander?"

To answer him, the next thing that echoed the streets was the dual deep growling as both Logan and K stepped out to stand next to Sinta, glaring at the Shi'ar Captain with a look of pure loathing. "If you want to die next, that's fine by me," Logan said, not breaking his growl.

The Shi'ar captain laughed at him. "I'm not so easy to intimidate as you Terrans are used to dealing with the sniveling Kree," he said before he motioned to his troops and the Shi'ar rushed forward.

But Logan smiled at that and dove forward to meet them, claws out and obviously itching for the fight. He wasn't alone, either. As the Shi'ar nearest them started to attack, the rest of the X-Men involved all dove into the fray as well, though they kept well away from Logan and K as they worked toward each other again.

By that time, Quill's group had caught up too, and Tommy let out a delighted laugh when he saw that there was still more fighting to do. And America was also more than happy to jump in, pinning a Shi'ar down who looked like he was looking at K sideways while she was working over one of the higher-ranking soldiers.

"Oh, hi. Fancy seeing you here," America called out cheerfully to the others as she worked.

"In the middle of the action," Quill laughed.

By that time, most of the Shi'ar were starting to get the idea that this wasn't a fight they could win — and a few had even turned away — but one of the captains was still determined to get to Sinta. And since clearly he had to get through K or Logan to do it, he made a rush for K, managing to get hold of her for just a moment. Noh pulled back Quill from getting in the middle as Logan rocketed over to slice through those that were too close, not relenting in the least until he had K with him for the push back toward the last remaining pocket of Shi'ar higher ups.

Noh was having a blast cutting through and blasting through Shi'ar — one gun in his hand and a Shi'ar weapon in the other to use their own blades against them — and a few of the Kree in the capital were starting to pour out of hiding places that the Shi'ar clearly didn't know about. And that just had him grinning wider.

"Noh-Varr!" Sinta called out, in the middle of his own grappling match with a Shi'ar lieutenant who had somehow managed to slip close enough to him to try to take him on — and was quickly learning his lesson. "There's a squadron stationed just north of here."

"I can be there in a moment," Noh called back, then glanced toward Logan. "And you? What do you say? Shall we go where we're needed?"

Logan followed Noh's gaze and nodded before he drew in a deep breath. "Do it."

Noh simply picked Logan up and slightly adjusted his grip so he could throw him farther, speeding past him after that to get to the Shi'ar squadron ahead of Logan to start the fight.

When Tommy saw it, he let out a little noise and then looked toward K. "Us too?" he offered, holding out a hand.

"Hell yeah," she laughed. "You up for it?"

"Puh-lease." Tommy shook his head. "I'm stronger than I look."

"You'd have to be," she teased.

He shook his head once more before he picked her up by the arms, tossed her slightly to catch her in one hand, and then threw her — hard. And just like Noh had done, he raced her there once she was airborne, though he caught her before she could hit the ground, grinning. "And I'm a gentleman too."

"_Such_ a gentleman," she agreed before the two of them dove in to help.

Between the four of them slashing, shooting, and simply blowing things up, it wasn't long before the Shi'ar were either dying, retreating, or backing off entirely. And those Shi'ar that were left were clearly licking their wounds.

Sinta looked toward Noh and Logan as both of them looked like prize fighters between rounds just waiting for the bell to ring. "Now," he said, then raised his voice a little louder. "Now then. As I said. This invasion is _over_. You will leave this planet or forfeit your lives."

The Shi'ar on the streets and in the area fell silent, though there was no movement to retreat just yet — it was more like they were simply shocked that things had turned around on them so quickly.

The Kree were starting to pour out, encouraged by the Shi'ar's shock and encouraged even more when the Guardians arrived as well for the show of force.

Hala's fate had completely changed.


	4. Reminder of the Past

**Chapter 4: "Reminder of the Past" **

The streets were at last starting to empty when Sinta found K, looking tired but determined. There was still so much left to do for Hala, and he clearly wanted to get moving on the rest of it.

"You've already done so much — but I wonder if I could ask your help once more," he said.

"What's the project?" she asked with a totally open expression on her face.

Sinta gestured around the streets. "These," he said, indicating the Kree. "These are my men. But the rest of the Kree — most of them have been taken if we were not able to hide them."

"Prison break?" she asked.

He nodded. "Some of the prisons are small enough that we can handle them on our own, but the one I told you about — north of the capital — will be harder."

"The one with the kids," she said, looking irritated at the thought. "Yeah, that's gotta go."

"I can spare some of my men to help, but if you think we can do it with just the X-Men, I'd rather they were standing by to receive the prisoners and get them safe."

"How young are they?" Logan asked, knowing exactly what they needed to prompt both of them into a real mood, the kind that would propel them through whole armies if they got mad enough.

"Those that are working?" Sinta said. "As old as the Shi'ar require to know they can receive orders. Those that are younger than that …" He shook his head. "We've tried to stop any ships with our youth on them. Forced growth is common for Shi'ar when they take slaves."

At that, K's growl dropped low enough to the point that it was more felt than heard. "That's a yes," Logan said.

Sinta nodded. "I'll go with you," he said. "I told you before: I'm not going to stand idly by. But I'll leave my men here to secure the capital so the Shi'ar can't resume as they were while we are distracted."

"Do you know how the prison is laid out — where the guys in charge will be? Because if we play this right, you and maybe Noh can go for the leaders and let us handle the ones that are actually laying hands on those kids," Logan suggested. "Safer that way."

Sinta nodded as Noh pulled up a few holograms from his pocket dimension, waving Logan and K over so they could go over their plans while the rest of the Kree and X-Men set to making sure the Shi'ar were run out of the capital city.

"They'll be concentrated here," Sinta said, pointing out a centralized structure on the holographic image. "That's always been the problem — we can't get far enough into the prison to get to those in charge without risking the prisoners."

"That won't be a problem," Noh assured him. "I am faster than a normal Kree, and I can get us there before they realize we have breached their security.

"Then we'll start there," Sinta agreed, then glanced to Noh. "Are you sure a four-man team will be sufficient?"

"For this?" Noh looked toward the ferals. "Yes. More than sufficient."

As they looked over the map, and the two ferals committed their job to memory, K pulled her hair back out of her face into a quick braid and tucked it into the back of her shirt. She took one last look at the plans and then let Logan lead her off to get started. "I'm not going to _not _kill anyone," she said to him quietly. "And I'm not making any promises if I see anyone hit anyone shorter than I am."

Logan nodded at that and gave her a quick kiss on the temple. "They won't have a prayer."

From there, Noh led the group to the _Marvel_, pouring on a little speed at the look on K's face to get them close — and fast. The two Kree in the group split from Logan and K as soon as they got off of the ship. They watched the two little ferals barrel toward the nearest entrance before Sinta turned toward Noh.

"I have no reason to doubt their skills, having been on the other side of the battle," he said slowly. "But there are only two of them."

Noh turned to look at the former Accuser before he simply let out a breath. "You have seen what they are capable of. And in particular, they are protective of children, innocents who have done nothing to deserve what has happened to them." He grabbed hold of Sinta and rushed forward, carrying the other Kree so that it would be easier to travel quickly before they came to a stop outside of the central compound, where the Shi'ar commanders were enjoying their meal and not worried in the least.

"Still," Sinta said as they crept around the edge of the central booth. "There are many who feel that way, and we still require the aid of an army."

Noh tipped his head to the side as he extended a single claw and broke it off in the lock of the door. "When the Kree came to Earth, when you were captured by K, she was not kind to you," he said slowly.

"No. I was a prisoner and had information," Sinta said. He shook his head slowly. "She has not treated me that way since. I do not see your point."

Noh almost smiled at that. "I just mean that you have seen what she is capable of," he said. "And you should know that she was holding back, because she had worked with you before, in other skirmishes with the Shi'ar, for example. And yet the ferocity was there — you saw it in the broadcast in which we were nearly executed."

"That should never have happened," Sinta added with a fierce frown. "Ronan overstepped his bounds. I heard the argument you made, Noh-Varr, and if you were promised safety for your friends—"

Noh waved a hand. "The past is the past. And one day your people will learn as mine did to let it lie," he said. "But the point is you have seen what she is capable of, and you should know as well that part of the reason she was so fierce was that she had just given birth recently."

"Oh." Sinta raised both eyebrows Noh's way. "I wasn't aware…."

"She healed quickly and wanted to get back to work," Noh explained. "But that protective instinct was ringing in everything she did."

"And is she now…?"

"No." Noh laughed. "No, she is not, or she would not be here." He shook his head. "But she is the mother of three now — and she has adopted a few others who have children of their own." He smiled slightly. "I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but she came to consider me her own, and my son and my daughters are under her protection. I have seen the lengths that she and Wolverine will go to in order to protect them, surrendering their own lives or freedoms if it will save them."

Sinta considered this for a long time with a little frown before Logan's voice broke over the comms warning them that the alarms were about to go off, and at that, Noh detonated the explosive nail in the door's lock, bursting it open to reveal the Shi'ar commanders within.

The door caved in to let the two Kree in to fight, and while the Shi'ar commanders were taken by surprise, Sinta shot the highest-ranking Shi'ar point blank, felling him in an instant. Noh worked in a flurry around the room, snatching weapons and breaking bones, and between the two of them, it wasn't long before there were no commanders left — and they had the run of the camp.

"Well then," Sinta said, moving to the Shi'ar control board. "I know a little of Shi'ar technology having to deal with them for so long…"

"I know some as well; the X-Men were once allied with the Shi'ar."

"I remember," Sinta said, still looking over the control board. "There should be a door mechanism."

"Ah," Noh said, nodding his quick understanding. "Yes, it will make things easier for our friends in the prison itself if the prisoners are not trapped behind something as trivial as doors."

Sinta nodded. "Exactly." He looked over the controls for a moment before he found the one he wanted, and with a satisfied little smile, he shut off the door locks — and then set to disabling the rest of the systems.

* * *

The two ferals didn't wait for any cues as they found their way into the prison without tripping off any alarms, evading the guards, intent on getting into the center of things before the guards were tipped off and could hurt anyone needlessly.

They were in the rafters, creeping through and looking down at the overcrowded cells where the kids were being held, but the cover was never going to last long. Not fifteen minutes into their soft recon, one of the bigger Shi'ar guards kicked a little boy that couldn't have been more than three or four by the look of him.

Logan growled low, but K simply snapped — particularly when the little guy turned to look at his attacker and the resemblance to another very small Kree boy she was fond of was strong.

Logan barely got to the comms to warn Noh and Sinta before K dropped out of the rafters onto the guy that had offended her, tearing into him bare-handed and then redirecting her rage toward anyone holding a weapon in the facility, with Logan doing the same, though he was sure to bark at the older kids being held there to take care of the smaller ones.

Even to the less knowledgeable Kree, it was clear that the two ferals, and K in particular, were wasting no energy, simply breaking the necks of the guards and only slicing into them when they were bold enough to raise a weapon their way. So by the time Sinta and Noh rejoined Logan and K, there was nothing in the way of resistance to keep them from getting all the kids out, and Sinta was already calling ahead to his men to get them prepared to receive the refugees.

Noh looked over the carnage, as well as the children, and spotted the little Kree boy that had set K off. He was hiding behind a corner, but he wouldn't take his eyes off of K either. With a warm smile, Noh crouched down next to the boy and was suddenly struck by how much he looked like Sying.

"If you like," he told the little boy in Kree as he crouched next to him, "I can take you to meet her. She's quite wonderful."

The little boy looked up at Noh uncertainly but finally nodded, and Noh picked him up to take him over to where K was trying to get herself cleaned up from the blood that _had _been spilt when some of the Shi'ar were stupid enough to try anything.

"You made a friend," K said when she saw them, working on getting the blood out of her nose from the couple of solid hits she'd taken before she pulled her braid out and undid it.

"Actually, he wants to meet _you_," Noh said, encouraging the boy with a smile as the little blue guy waved one hand shyly.

K couldn't help but give him a warm smile. "You doing alright, little guy?"

The boy looked questioningly up at Noh, and Noh repeated the question in Kree. He glanced toward K, wide-eyed, and then nodded. "_Can we go home now?_" he asked, and Noh relayed the question.

"If we can find your mom and dad, yes," K said, nodding. "Are you from Hala or somewhere else?"

When Noh asked the little boy, he explained that he lived in a city not far from the capital, and Noh nodded. "I could run us there in not much time at all," he offered.

"You might need to be sure that there's someone waiting for him," K pointed out. "I don't want this little guy going in to find a _mess_."

Noh nodded softly at that before he turned to the little boy. "_Do you mind waiting here with K?" _he asked. "_She'll keep you safe, I promise." _When the little guy nodded, Noh gently handed him to K and then briefly explained to Sinta what he was doing before he sped off to go find where this little boy belonged.

When he did find the street that the little boy had told him about, he was disappointed to find that a lot of the houses had been ransacked. This was the scientific district, and many of the Kree here would have been taken by the Shi'ar for what knowledge they had — to be used and discarded.

So Noh wasn't entirely optimistic about the chances of finding this little boy's parents — until, very suddenly, he stopped in his tracks when he saw two familiar people.

There was no mistaking them. When he was just out of his genetic pod, he'd been allowed to meet with his parents on occasion — and then later, when he began to truly serve the Empire, he had been assigned to a ship with them. Family bonds were supposed to encourage unity, after all. In this universe, where Hala was not as advanced as his own home, growth was not sped up — so here, his parents were still young…

And, apparently, so was he.

Noh blinked as it suddenly clicked for him why the little boy had looked so much like Sying. Of _course _on a Hala where genetic improvements were not prevalent, his family would have been blue-skinned; there was nothing changing their DNA. And they had been a prominent family…

He shook his head and decided not to think about it too hard, getting lost in what could have been. Instead, he rushed back to where K, Logan, and Sinta were starting to direct the Kree on how to get these refugees where they needed to be. The little boy was sitting on K's hip as both Logan and K made sure to assure him that he was safe and to talk quietly with him.

"I've found … his parents," Noh said as he came to a stop, though he had to admit that he was still a bit wide-eyed.

"_Ready to go home?_" K asked carefully, though it was clear Kree wasn't her best language by a long shot.

The little boy nodded and grabbed a tighter hold of K as Noh picked up K — with the little boy in her arms — to carry them off to the nearby city.

As soon as the little guy saw his parents, he let out a delighted laugh and wiggled to be let down, running full-tilt over to the two Kree, who dropped to their knees to catch him and wrap him up in a hug when they saw him too.

K elbowed Noh in the side as she stood next to him. "You big marshmallow."

Noh gave her a soft smile as he watched the scene. "I'm… a bit biased."

"I hope so," she said, then tapped the side of her nose significantly. "It's a lot harder to smell anything with blood in my nose, you know."

"K…" He shook his head and took her arm so they were standing farther away from the reunion — and so he could tear his gaze away to look at her more fully. "K, those are my parents," he told her softly. "This universe's version of them."

Her eyes widened as she glanced back over at the happy reunion. "I thought … some kind of almost-cousin …"

Noh shook his head. "This universe does not have the same genetic alterations and enhanced growth for Kree; they must be slightly behind in their generations."

"A guard kicked him," K said quietly. "Sparkly moondust baby."

Noh let out a soft laugh at that. "I shouldn't interfere with him, and neither should you," he said.

"I'm not going to," she promised. "It could have been any of them, but he looked so much like Sying .."

"Of course he would," Noh said quietly. He let out a breath. "I suppose… that is what I would have looked like, if I had not been enhanced. If I had grown at a normal rate."

She let out a sigh and looked up at him. "He's where he should be then."

Noh nodded at that and then squared his shoulders. "Right. That's quite enough of living in the past," he said, more to himself than anything else.

"Sure you don't want to say goodbye?" K asked in an airy tone.

Noh paused and glanced back toward where the small Kree family was headed inside, with the little boy on his father's hip telling his mother all about how he had run so _fast _to get to them. "No," he decided.

"Liar," she said flatly.

He turned to face her with a frown. "They… I shouldn't interfere."

"Don't you think they should be able to _thank _the speedy Kree that brought their darling sparkly baby moondancer to them from that God-awful prison?"

"You are ridiculous," he said with a little laugh.

"I am trying to be sure that they can say thank you," she defended with a smile. "This could haunt them for years otherwise."

Noh shook his head at her and then leaned over to kiss her temple. "Then for their sake, I'll say a few words," he said and then made his way over to the Kree family, with K trailing a few paces behind him.

On seeing that Noh had found himself uncharacteristically silent, K stepped forward with a little wave. "_Is he alright?" _she asked the boy's parents. "_He was kicked …" _

The little boy's mother looked alarmed for a moment, but when the tiny little Kree didn't seem to have any obvious signs of injury on him, she let out a breath and turned to K. "You speak Kree?" she asked, in English.

"Very badly," K replied.

The woman smiled at her. "And you saved him?"

"We liberated the prison," she replied. "He was close to the center of the start of things. We just wanted to be sure he was alright and you all were safe."

"Thank you," she said warmly as the little boy's father held him a bit tighter.

"The others in the prison will find their homes as well," Noh said quietly.

"Sinta and his men are working on that now," K added.

"That's a relief," the little boy's father said. "There are so many worried families…" He shook his head and looked toward K. "Forgive me, but what is a Terran doing here liberating our children?"

"We took offense to the Shi'ar invading your home," she said frankly. "We only found out about it recently, or it never would have gotten this far."

"And it will not happen again," Noh added with honest heat to his tone.

"I may also have a bit of a protective streak for kids," K admitted with a shrug.

"And she has a soft spot for Kree," Noh said with a fond smile. "She has become practically an adopted mother to me in my own travels away from Hala."

The little family smiled at them, and the boy insisted on leaning over in his dad's arms to give K a hug to thank her, getting a kiss on the cheek in return. And then, to Noh, he giggled and spoke in his native tongue. "_Thank you for taking me to Mom and Dad so_ _fast_."

Noh grinned and leaned forward. "_Fast is always best_," he agreed before he straightened up and looked toward the little boy's parents. "If you need anything, speak to Sinta. He knows how to contact me."

"Thank you," the boy's mother said as they turned to leave, and the little boy waved over his mother's shoulder.

"_Bye! Thank you!" _

"_Goodbye_!" Noh called after the boy and his mother as his father stepped forward to offer both of them his hand to shake.

"Thank you for bringing him back to us," he said. "Both of you. I know you had no reason to help Hala. I wasn't old enough to be a soldier in the invasion, but I was just short of the age and watched every broadcast I could." He looked between the two of them. "I know you have every reason to let Hala burn, and you did not. You saved my son instead."

"I settled my differences with the Kree years ago," K said. "I'm not going to watch innocent people suffer because you had power hungry morons in charge."

The Kree father smiled at that and let out a little chuckle. "Well. Times are changing," he said. He shook both of their hands and then turned to head inside. "Thank you again."

"You're welcome," Noh said, watching a bit longer than he meant to until his father had left.

"_Altea_," K said with a smirk.

"I don't know what that means," Noh said quietly.

"I'll give you a clue," she offered as she started to walk back the way they'd come. "It's sweet and fluffy and goes well with chocolate …"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Really, K."

"Graham crackers ... "

"I rescind all the wonderful things I said about you as my adoptive mother."

"You do not," she laughed. "Or you're grounded."

He laughed quietly and shook his head. "I have never been grounded in my life," he said, then glanced over his shoulder. "And you're right, of course. I don't take it back."

She paused and waited for him to catch up before she jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug and kiss his cheek.

He picked her up in a hug and kissed her forehead. "What was that for?"

"You needed it. I had an extra one laying around," she teased. "I always have an extra one."

He laughed and hugged her again as they started to walk back. "Thank you," he said after a moment. "I know they aren't mine but thank you all the same."

"You're very welcome," she said. "But you did all the work on that one."

He chuckled at her and shook his head. "I won't argue with you on this when I've just had the chance to say goodbye to my parents," he told her as he bent down to scoop her up and run back to the prison to meet up with Sinta and Logan.

Their arrival looked to be exactly on time, since Logan was clearly done with even being around the organizational side of things, even though there was a large section of kids passing him by that all seemed to be trying to say hello.

"I think it's time we said goodbye," Noh said as he set K down.

"Please," Logan said, pulling K over to him. "I need to get this blood off before it dries."

"You know, you're welcome to stay here, Noh-Varr," Sinta said with a slight frown. "The old guard is no longer in power, and beyond that, I think you've more than shown your loyalty to Hala. No one would stand against you if you stayed to help rebuild our world."

But Noh was already shaking his head. "I've made Earth my home, and I swore an oath to protect it," he said. "And to be honest, I have been away from my family for too long as it is."

"You know how to get a hold of us if you need the help — or the Guardians," Logan said. "I know Gamora said she'd be keepin' a closer eye on things this way."

"That's good to hear," Sinta said, though it was clear to see he was disappointed.

Noh smiled. "Besides, I'm leaving our world in the best of hands," he said as he clapped a hand on Sinta's shoulder.

Sinta shook his head lightly. "I've never been a leader."

"You did fine the way I saw it," Logan argued.

"And I think you'll find you have a backing," K added.

Sinta shook his head at the pair of them. "Expect to hear from Hala soon, then," he said at last, straightening up under the mantle he didn't want to take but which was clearly being placed on his shoulders.

"I'd love to hear from Hala when you're not being attacked," K said. "Just saying: I'd like to see the place when it's the way Noh describes it."

"I hope our worlds can have a dialogue," Sinta agreed. "Your world may yet be primitive, with divided governments and no single leader, but perhaps we can start with an alliance with the X-Men?"

"You know how to get a hold of Cyclops," Logan told him.

Sinta nodded. "Thank you, again," he said. "We can chase the Shi'ar back to where they belong once we have Hala on its feet again."

"I know you will," Noh agreed. "And this time, I hope that Hala will reach its splendor."


	5. Orphans of War

**Chapter 5: "Orphans of War" **

It took a little while longer to get things settled on Hala, though between Tommy and Noh, it was, at least, a faster task when it came to getting the prisoners back where they belonged — something that both of them wanted to help with before they left rather than leaving all those kids in the lurch.

And while the rest of the X-Men went in Quill's ship to give Jubilee and Noh the opportunity to finish up their anniversary trip if they wanted to, Noh had to admit that he was far more interested in getting _home _than anything else.

But he _had _promised to take Jubilee out to the little music place he had mentioned, so he set the coordinates once they were out of Hala's airspace and let the _Marvel _get them there on her own.

"As promised," he said as he sat down by Jubilee and kissed her forehead. "It wasn't _too _much of a diversion from our anniversary, was it?"

"Kind of a warmup, really," Jubilee replied with a smirk. "Mayhem … liberation … the works."

"So, the usual for an anniversary for us," he summed up and kissed her again. "Of course, how could I expect anything less marrying my fearsome warrior?"

"It would be a disappointment to you otherwise," she sighed.

He raised an eyebrow at that and shook his head lightly. "Of course not," he told her earnestly. "Personally, I'd rather spend our anniversary dancing. The galaxies can wait — or they should, if they had any sense." He smiled at her. "I know your worth as a warrior; the universe does _not _need to prove it over and over as it seems to think it must."

"Hateful universe," she said with a wave.

He grinned at that and leaned back slightly with her, watching the stars for a long moment. "Still," he said. "I'm glad I found my way to this one. It's a good universe. Trust me; I've seen worse." He paused, grinning wider, and added, "Besides, it has _you _in it."

She smiled and kissed the sense out of him before brightly changing the subject. "So!" she said, bright eyed and grinning. "How did your mission go at the end? Logan looked … grumpy."

"Well, there were children being imprisoned. He wasn't happy to start with," Noh pointed out, then hedged. "And K and I may have left him alone with Sinta for a bit longer than we meant to."

"Did something go wrong? I thought those two would be doing all the … you know," she balled her hands up into fists and swung them around in a motion similar to Logan slashing.

Noh laughed. "No, they tore through the guards easily enough. It was afterward that there was a little boy who K rescued that we felt we should return to his parents," he said, falling a bit quieter. "K was upset — he looked so much like Sying, and I believe something snapped when one of the Shi'ar kicked him."

"Sounds like he was totally asking for it," Jubilee replied, but then she paused and peeked up at him. "Was the little guy okay?"

Noh nodded. "He was fine. We brought him to his parents, and they're taking care of him now," he explained. He ran a hand over the back of his neck. "That's why we were gone for a while. I … wasn't expecting to find… well. This universe's version of my parents, anyway," he said slowly before he glanced her way. "Thus, the resemblance to Sying."

"You…. Wait. What?"

"It makes sense," Noh said with a slight shrug. "In this universe, Kree grow up slowly; the generations must be a bit behind." He almost laughed. "Here, I'm only about three years old."

Her eyes widened. "So … you got to see … _yourself_?"

"Yes and no," Noh said. "After all, _he _belongs in this universe." He leaned his head back for a moment. "It's a bit like time travelling. It's not the first alternate universe I've seen of myself. It _is _the first I've seen where I was with my parents," he added softly.

"Sooo…. Do you feel any better for that?" she asked, just as softly. "Because I would give just about anything to see my parents again."

"I'm… not sure," Noh admitted. "I got to say goodbye, which I didn't get to do in my own life. And yet… they aren't _mine_." He shook his head. "My parents didn't _raise_ me, not really. So it's strange - seeing them with such a small Kree. That's not how I remember them."

She popped up on her toes and gave him a soft kiss. "At least you got that much."

He smiled and returned the kiss just as gently. "Yes. And it's nice to see that this universe's version of myself has a home and family like ours," he said. He looked sheepish for a moment. "I have to admit, it's a bit of a relief seeing that. I still feel I have _no _reference with our children, but maybe I have a little parental DNA after all," he added, trying for a tease.

"As if there was any real doubt," she laughed.

"Well, we have such wonderful children," Noh said, grinning as he pulled his arm around her shoulders. "They're so easy to love — just like you are."

"What, you're not jockeying for another one, too, are you, Cassanova?" she teased.

"Me?" Noh laughed. "No. The last time I did that, we didn't get our twins until magic was involved, and you were so miserable, I have no desire to do that to you again."

"Good," she said, with one eyebrow raised. "Besides … I was going to suggest we could adopt if you needed another one."

"Considering the state of Hala," Noh said, smiling softly, "that's not too far of a stretch."

"No, it's really not," she said with a nod.

Noh tipped his head at her to watch her closely. "Are you serious, Jubilee?" he asked.

"Of course I am," she replied with a little frown. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that we've just come from a warzone — and Terrans and emotional highs—"

"A war zone that was bad enough that it tripped both Logan and K into destroying the guards holding how many kids? I know all of them don't have places to go."

"No," Noh had to agree. "We weren't able to find places for all of them."

"I'm not sure what Kree orphanages are like, but I'm sure it's not as good as us."

"Well then," Noh said, slowly starting to nod. "We'll have to return to Hala before our trip is through. Since you've made up your mind," he added in a bit of a tease.

"Sounds good to me — if _and only if _you want to," she said.

"My Jubilee," he said, the grin only widening. "Why in Plex's name would I say no to such a wonderful suggestion?"

She shrugged up one shoulder. "Never know."

"Perhaps we could find a little brother for Sying," Noh suggested, the grin still reaching ear-splitting volumes. He leaned over to kiss her, still grinning, and added, "And what a birthday present for the twins."

* * *

Sinta probably had not expected Jubilee and Noh to be back on Hala so soon after they left, but the truth was that Noh simply hadn't been able to wait any longer — and Jubilee just kept laughing at him over his complete inability to pretend he wasn't as thrilled as he was.

Noh had called ahead to explain _why _they were returning, so when Sinta met them, it was a warm greeting.

"If you felt this way, you should have said so when you were here last," Sinta said as he walked with the two of them toward one of the several orphanages that had been built since the Shi'ar invasion.

"We had to discuss it," Jubilee offered. "So Noh wouldn't jump into anything while he was being emotional."

Noh gave Jubilee a dry look for that one, but Sinta was smiling. "It's a common theme in war, even for Kree," he said mildly.

"Oh, I know. This one goes looking for fights just for the excuse, I think," she teased.

"I do not," Noh said, sounding perfectly insulted as Jubilee began to outright cackle with glee.

Sinta smiled at both of them, clearly amused, as he led them to the front doors and gestured them inside. "There are a few buildings in which we house the children we aren't sure have families," he explained. "But this one — we have confirmed that they have no one." His smile fell a bit. "There's a fair bit more of them than I care to admit."

"Then maybe we can help lighten that load," Jubilee said.

Sinta nodded and stepped back so that Jubilee and Noh could find their own way — and as he'd said, there were a fair bit more kids than they had expected to be so firmly in the "having no one" camp so soon after the war was over.

Some of the older kids were already taking care of the younger ones, and Noh recognized quite a few of them from the prison he and the Howletts had helped to liberate.

But there were _very _young ones as well, a few that had been saved from being sent to the Shi'ar homeworld and others that were simply orphans of war. Noh looked toward Jubilee for a moment with wide eyes as he saw a pair of sisters, the oldest of which was maybe three, and shook his head. "I know it is useless to live in the past, and yet… this should not have happened," he whispered to her quietly.

"Rookie. Cadet. Error."

He laughed lightly. "I know. That's my own training. But it is still true."

"I just love quoting you back to you."

"You get so few chances to do so," he teased her lightly.

"Only allll the time."

He chuckled and pulled his arm around her to pull her over so that he could kiss the top of her head. "You're so lovely when you're enjoying yourself."

They wandered through a little longer and were sure they'd seen everyone there before they came across a little boy, about two, who was very patiently playing with a girl about his age — and clearly waiting to get his toy back when she was done with it.

He had his chin in his hands and was watching the little girl with his feet kicked up behind him, and when he saw Jubilee and Noh, he waved at them. "She can play with it," he said quickly, in Kree. "She didn't _steal _it."

"We didn't think she did," Noh assured him quickly.

The boy tipped his head to the side and scrunched his nose at Noh. "Good," he decided, putting his chin back in his hands as he watched the little girl.

Noh and Jubilee glanced at each other, and Jubilee had to laugh at her husband's complete and total lack of a poker face as he started to grin. But she had to admit — this little sweetie pie would definitely fit in with the other sweetie pies they had.

"_Hi there_," Jubilee said in her best Kree as she crouched down next to him.

The little boy's eyes widened as he looked up at her. "_Hi_," he said. "_You sound funny._"

"_I know. My accent is bad. I'm Jubilee,_" she said with a little wave.

He tipped his head to the side and returned the wave. "_I'm Ael_," he said.

"_That sounds like a really strong name,_" Jubilee said, grinning at him.

Ael nodded happily. "_It's a fighting name. For fighters." _

She leaned a little closer with a troublemaking smirk. "_I'm a fighter, you know." _

He considered her. "_You don't have a fighting name_," he pointed out.

"_That's because I'm a Terran. Our names aren't all for great fighters._"

Ael watched her for a moment, his lower lip pushed out as he thought about it. "_Do Terrans all speak funny like you?" _

"_Only the ones that know how to speak Kree,_" she told him.

"_Okay,_" he said, nodding as he kicked his feet.

She watched him for a moment. "_Ael, would you like to see a little trick I can do?_"

For the first time, he looked a little apprehensive. "_What kind?" _

"_Do you know what fireworks are?" _

The little boy looked wide-eyed and stopped kicking. "_I know what fire is_."

She smirked, one corner of her mouth quirking up a little higher. "_This is way prettier than that."_

He shook his head at her. "_Terrans are weird," _he decided. "_Fire isn't pretty." _

She giggled at him and held her hand out, palm up, only to send off the tiniest of colored sparks that erupted in quiet little pops. "_Fireworks."_

Ael stared at her hand, wide-eyed, and then tentatively reached out to touch her hand, trying to see where the fireworks were coming from. "_How?_"

"_It's my special ability," _she explained. "_I can create colored plasmoids out of thin air and detonate them." _

Ael examined her hand a little more before he grinned. "_That's really cool." _

"_Would you like to see something else cool?" _Noh asked the little boy with a grin that was equal parts for the boy and for Jubilee as, as soon as Ael nodded, he very gently picked him up and walked with him up the side of the wall to the roof.

Ael was clearly in heaven, giggling as he hung upside down. "_How do you do that?"_

"_I'm Kree, just like you," _Noh explained. "_But I have a little extra DNA. It lets me walk on walls, run faster than you can blink, and pick up big things." _

The little boy was turning slightly purple upside down, so Noh brought him back down to the ground and set him down as the usual blue came back. "_That was fun," _he said happily.

Noh looked toward Jubilee and, in English, asked her very softly, "What do you say?"

"It's up to him, I think," Jubilee replied.

Noh nodded and turned back to Ael. "_Do you think you would like to come and live with us?" _he asked the little boy. "_We live far away, where there isn't a war with the Shi'ar."_

Ael tipped his head to the side. "_I don't know_," he said slowly. "_Lots of kids leave Hala and it's no good." _

Jubilee handed Noh her phone, with pictures ready to show Ael. "That might help a little. Show him our life."

Noh gave her a grateful smile and turned back to Ael, holding the phone so that Ael could clearly see the pictures of their own three little half-Kree at the LA school. "_This is where we live_," he explained. "_It's a school for people with gifts like Jubilee has. We have families and friends, and we learn how to take care of each other." _

Ael frowned a bit and carefully took the phone as he looked through the pictures — first of Sying and Melody and Celeste and then everyone else, both in LA and at Westchester. There were plenty of images of smiling, playing little kids, and it seemed like in every one of the pictures, people were playing and laughing or otherwise enjoying each other's company. "_There's no blue Kree," _he said. "_There's blue Terrans, but no blue Kree._"

"_Does there need to be?"_ Noh asked carefully, knowing there were biases there.

"_No," _Ael said, shaking his head. He glanced up at Jubilee and Noh. "_And there's no Shi'ar?"_

"_They're a little afraid to come to Earth,"_ Jubilee told him quietly.

Ael grinned up at her. "_Did you fight them? Because you're a fighter?_"

"_I sure did," _she agreed. "_My adopted dad taught me how."_

"_Which one?" _Ael asked, holding the phone out to her as he seemed to get more excited.

She smiled and picked up the phone to scroll over to a picture of Logan in his uniform, but with the cowl down. "_That's him._"

He grinned at the picture. "_Does he have a fighter name?_"

Jubilee grinned wider at that. "_Our team calls them code names. His real name is Logan, but his code name is 'Wolverine'." _

"_What does _that _mean?" _

"_It's a little animal on Earth that takes down other animals much, much bigger than it is. He's a lot like that._"

Ael nodded, staring at the picture before Noh leaned over gently. "_It's your choice, but if you wanted to come with us, I'm sure he and my adoptive mother would love to meet you._"

"_You both got adopted?" _Ael asked, looking up at Noh and Jubilee with wider eyes than before.

"_We were a little older than you," _Noh said with a little smile.

"_And they're kind of the ones all the kids like to tackle,_" Jubilee added with a wink.

Ael considered both of them for a long time. "_Well,_" he said, slowly, "_that does sound like fun."_

"_We'd love it if you were part of our family," _Noh told him gently.

He bit his lip. "_So… not like being in this big house with all the people?" _he asked.

"_There are still lots of people, but it's not like this,_" Jubilee said.

Ael jiggled one foot slightly as he thought about it before he slowly nodded. "_Okay_."

Both Jubilee and Noh broke into bright smiles at that, and the next thing Ael knew, Noh had swept him to carry him downstairs.

The Kree woman running the place was able to give them a little more background on Ael from there. He hadn't been caught up in the prison until late in the war, only a few months ago, so he knew enough and was old enough to understand _some _of what had happened. He was young enough not to remember too much of his parents, though he did know the story of his namesake who had fought in the last Kree-Shi'ar war and held onto that story fiercely. And he had been small enough that he'd avoided being put to work when he was captured — though that only meant he was likely supposed to have been sent off to Chandilar to be force-grown.

It wasn't much background, but they were glad to have it all the same, and Noh was sure to tell Jubilee a brief overview of Ael-Dan so she could properly know the story of the little boy's name while they got everything finalized.

It took next to no time at all, and in what felt like a heartbeat, Jubilee was carrying the little boy out as he asked her questions about Earth and the team — though they hadn't gotten to the _Marvel_ before Sinta caught up with them.

"I wonder if I can have a quick word," Sinta asked Noh.

Noh glanced back toward Ael and Jubilee and then nodded. "Of course," he said, gesturing for Sinta to lead the way, if he wanted privacy.

"This won't take long," Sinta said, as much to Jubilee as to Noh. "I just wanted to extend my gratitude again for your help in the invasion — and ask if you would still be willing to serve Hala while you're on Earth."

"I've done that before, when I was the Protector," Noh pointed out.

"Yes, I know," Sinta said with a little nod. "But it's become clear to me that Hala can't afford to be isolated and without friends, or we'll languish for years with no aid." He gestured toward the remnants of war behind them to make his point further. "And your Earth — well — your Terrans have proved time and again that they are good to have in a fight."

"Yes, well, I cannot speak for them," Noh said. "I'm sure you know Cyclops—"

"I want to ask _you _to speak for _us_," Sinta explained, cutting him short. "In an official capacity."

Noh looked entirely taken aback. "In… what way?"

"You know the planet' you're part of the force that protects it," Sinta explained. "They would listen to you — or, at least, they would be more likely to listen to you than to any of us who invaded their home," he added. "And so, if I'm going to rebuild Hala and kindle friendships between planets and empires, I'll need ambassadors. Would you be Earth's?"

Noh stared at Sinta for a moment before he couldn't help the smile and nodded. "Of course," he said. "It would be an honor to serve the Empire again."

Sinta nodded and smiled as he and Noh clasped hands. "Give me time to rebuild here at home," he said. "And then I'm sure you will hear from me again. We have work to do if our two worlds will ever be able to find an agreement."

"Not as much as you might think," Noh said with a small smile.

"We'll see," Sinta replied before he nodded toward Jubilee and Ael. "I've kept you from your family long enough. We'll see each other again soon enough anyway, I'm sure."

Noh broke into a wide grin and a slight bow before he zipped off — probably a bit faster than the normal speed — to catch up to Jubilee and Ael, the grin widening with every step. When he finally did reach Jubilee, he spun her around with Ael in her arms.

"Did he ask you to bring him Rice Krispie Treats next time you come back?" Jubilee teased.

Noh laughed delightedly and kissed her. "No," he said. "He asked if I would be an ambassador to Earth for our people!"

"I'm sorry … what?" Jubilee didn't bother to hide her pure shock, her mouth slightly open and everything. "Since when are they that friendly?"

"Times are changing, Jubilee," Noh said, still grinning widely as he spun her around again. He leaned forward and stole another kiss before he simply started to sing, "Come on, come on." He kissed her again. "Feel it, feel it. Feel the vibration," he said, still looking more delighted than he had in a long time. "It's such a good vibration, Jubilee!"

"You're adorable when you're excited," she told him with a grin.

"And I've every right to be," he told her. "There has never _been _an ambassadorial position like this."

"That's my sweetheart, breaking through barriers, always one of a kind."

He grinned and kissed her again. "I cannot possibly take the credit here. The idea was Sinta's," he told her. "He said to me: Hala cannot afford to be isolated any longer."

Ael was watching him curiously with his head tipped to the side as he watched Noh grin, and Jubilee kissed Noh. "I think that was very smart of him. I'm just impressed he got over the Accuser ego problem," she said.

Noh chuckled. "Yes, well, I think the past few years have been humbling."

"Might help that a lot of the stupid died."

"Very true," Noh agreed as he draped an arm around her shoulders and finally headed toward the _Marvel_. "And the Kree have seen what happens when no one is looking their way for too long," he added. "We didn't know they were in trouble, remember?"

"True," she agreed. "But if it's all the same to you, I am so, _so _ready to go snuggle the rest of our little ones. I'm sure Storm and Forge are more than ready to get relieved."

Noh kissed her forehead. "And besides. We have to introduce Ael to the others."


	6. Unexpectedly Great News

**Chapter 6: "Unexpectedly Great News"**

Things in LA were finally starting to calm down.

It had been a little bit crazy for a while, because Remy had disappeared, and because Charlie had disappeared with him after that, but everyone was home now, and Melody and Celeste seemed to think it was important to sit on Marie and Remy and make sure that they were happy.

Their parents weren't supposed to be home for a few more days, so they figured they had _plenty _of time to play with Remy and Miss Marie. Especially because Remy could teach them how to do card tricks. They were fast enough to catch some of his tricks — and so, he said, they were fast enough to _learn _them, and both little half-Kree girls had a deck of cards apiece learning how to shuffle the cards so that the same card came up on top every time.

"Ace-a-diamond!" Celeste giggled as she pulled the card off the top of the deck to show it to Remy, who grinned and ruffled her hair.

"Now you got it, _petit_," he said, earning a delighted giggle.

"Do another one," Celeste said, shoving the cards Remy's way as Marie laughed lightly as the fact that he was so very, very trapped — not that she was any less so, considering the fact that Amadi was braiding her hair.

Remy grinned and started to shuffle the cards again, though before he could do anything else, Sying came running into the room with a wide grin. "Mom and Dad are home!" he said, fairly well-coated in the sand he had kicked up all over himself when he'd run straight there from the beach. "I saw their ship!"

"If they here, you gon' see 'em soon 'nuff," Remy told him.

He grinned and brushed some of the sand out of his hair. "I'm gonna go see 'em now!" he decided, running off to the hangar now that he'd delivered his message and leaving his sisters with identical expressions as they shook their heads.

"He likes to go fast," Melody told Marie. "_All _the time. Even when he doesn't _gotta_."

"It's fun to go fast sometimes," Amadi pointed out. "Sometimes I like running with your dad."

"_Sometimes_," Melody emphasized. "Sometimes it's fun to braid hair." She gestured at the pink scrunchies in Marie's hair. "See?"

"Well, yeah," Amadi had to agree. "But that's always fun."

Melody grinned and then looked over at her sister. "I guess we should go say hi," she giggled.

"Ooh, yes. I can show Mom my card tricks," Celeste said, tucking her cards into the pocket of her overalls as she jumped down from her seat.

The girls arrived at the hangar at about the same time the _Marvel _touched down, and Melody couldn't resist teasing Sying about it. "You been waiting a long time?"

Sying rolled his eyes at her. "I got the sand off my clothes," he said, and Celeste giggled as she nudged Melody's shoulder, pointing out the trail of sand that he was leaving behind .

"Uh-huh," she said.

Sying stuck his tongue out at her as the door to the Marvel opened, and Noh and Jubilee stepped out — with a blue Kree boy that none of the kids recognized at all.

"Hi!" Melody called out happily, waving.

"Who's that?" Celeste asked at the same time.

"This …" Jubilee said, shifting the little boy on her hip, "is your new little brother."

The girls both broke into squeals of disbelief as they mobbed Jubilee to try and get a closer look, while Sying just stared at Ael for a moment before he looked toward Noh. "For real?" he asked, wide-eyed.

Noh nodded. "His name is Ael," he told the kids. "He doesn't speak any Terran languages. Do you think you could introduce yourselves in Kree for him until he can learn English?"

The girls giggled and did just that, introducing themselves in turn. "_What's your name?" _Sying asked after he'd done the same.

"_I'm Ael," _the little boy said, holding onto Jubilee's sleeve with one hand, obviously uncertain in the face of the mobbing.

"_That's a cool name," _Sying said, and that got a _huge _grin out of Ael as he launched into the story of his name until Jubilee set him down so he could talk to Sying on his own level, with Sying sitting cross-legged and listening with rapt attention to everything Ael said.

The girls sat down right there in the hangar too, just as delighted, as Ael found himself with an audience telling the story of his name — and then the story of how Jubilee and Noh had asked him if he wanted to come home with them.

"_Jubilee showed me lots of pictures while we were flying,_" Ael finished.

"_So you got to see pictures of us too?" _Sying asked, totally enraptured in the conversation and not even noticing the fact that Jubilee was quietly snapping pictures of the two boys seated on the hangar floor so close to each other.

"_Lots," _Ael told him.

"_We didn't get to see pictures of you," _Melody told him.

"_Nobody was taking pictures at my old home," _Ael sai with a little shrug.

"_Well, Mom takes lots of pictures all the time," _Celeste promised.

"All _the time," _Melody agreed.

As the kids chatted and got to know each other — and Celeste pulled out her cards to show off her card tricks she had learned with Remy to a wide-eyed little Kree boy — Noh wrapped his arms around Jubilee from behind as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "This is the best idea you have ever had," he whispered in her ear.

"Happy anniversary, sweetheart," she told him, turning to give him a kiss.

It wasn't more than a few moments later that Storm made her presence known. "And who is this charming young man?" she asked, watching the children excitedly chatter away in Kree.

"His name is Ael," Noh told her with a proud smile. "While we were on our anniversary trip — well, I'm sure you've heard from the others some of what happened, but there is so _much _to tell," he added. "Chief among which is that Ael will be part of our family from now on."

Storm took a few steps closer to the group of kids, smiling sedately. "And would I be mistaken if I were to assume that he knows no English?"

Noh nodded gently. "I'm surprised he knows as much Kree as he does, to be honest. A lot of the children his age knew Shi'ar," he said, this time with a much less pronounced grin.

"Well, if he knows any Shi'ar to get in the middle of things, it's good that half of the staff can speak that," Storm said before she turned to Noh. "Of course, this means you'll be starting a class in the fall for the students. As many people as would like should be able to learn Kree."

At that, Noh grinned and nodded his agreement. "I'm sure I would have four eager assistants," he said, gesturing toward where the kids were still excitedly getting to know one another — it looked like Sying was getting teased about the sand in his hair. He grinned crookedly and turned back to Storm. "Of course, it would have to be worked around a few other responsibilities I have now."

"He's very proud," Jubilee said, giggling slightly as she leaned over Noh's shoulder.

Noh smiled at that and leaned over to kiss her cheek before he turned back to Storm. "Hala has a new leader, and he's asked my aid in trying to establish better relations between Earth and Hala — an alliance, possibly, _not _an invasion or colonization," he explained. "And to that end, I've accepted the title of Ambassador to Earth."

Storm stared up at him. "Is this a new title?"

"There has never been this particular ambassadorial position," Noh said with a nod.

"Well, Congratulations, Ambassador Varr." Storm was smiling his way. "I'm sure Scott will be glad to hear the good news."

Noh couldn't stop the proud smile as he nodded. "We need to go to Westchester anyway, before Logan and K leave to visit Mac and Heather," he said, gesturing to Ael. "They should meet their grandson. They didn't know when they left us at Hala that he would be coming home with us," he admitted.

"Yes, they should know about little Ael as well," Storm said, trying hard to stow the grin.

"He's already seen pictures of everyone," Jubilee said with a wide smile. "We tried to explain who everyone is, but it's a lot to take in."

"Yes, but they don't know about the new one. It should be interesting."

"Considering how K was such a fierce protector of the little Kree we found in the Shi'ar prisons, I doubt this will be anything but a joyous occasion," Noh said simply, still grinning ear to ear over _all _of the good news.

But before Storm could grin _too _much more widely, Sying approached the three adults with a grin of his own. He was tall and strong enough that he had Ael on his back, piggy-back style, as he asked, "Can we take Ael to the beach? He's never _been_."

"Yes, but we'll go with you," Jubilee said. "All of us. So no running, mister."

Sying let out a long groan. "Fine," he said. "But that's so _slow_. And Ael's never _been_."

"And would you rob your mother of letting her see Ael's reaction to the beach?" Noh asked gently, still smiling, as Sying slowly shook his head.

"No," Jubilee answered for the little boy, booping him on the nose. "You absolutely will _not._"

Sying wrinkled his nose at the boop but shrugged all the same, bouncing Ael slightly before he turned to Ael and told him, "_We'll run faster later, okay?" _

"_Okay," _Ael agreed holding onto Sying a little tighter as they headed upstairs so they could go down to the beach together, with the girls on either side of the boys talking about all their favorite beach activities — sandcastles and seashells and swimming and everything in between.

Ael seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, but he also couldn't stop smiling at the three half-Kree kids as they babbled at him all the way up the stairs and out into the grounds. He seemed to grow more wide-eyed when he saw the open area and all the bright sunlight, holding tight onto Sying's shirt and neck. The more he saw, the quieter and quieter he got, totally awed by this different world.

"I think it's time to show him our suite," Jubilee said quietly.

"Give him a little time to adjust to the beach first," Noh suggested just as quietly. "If he gets up the courage to let go of Sying, he may even like it." He gestured toward where the girls were showing Ael how their toes sank into the sand.

But eventually, it was clear that it was just a little too much — and Jubilee and Noh called the kids inside to head to their rooms.

"Sying," Jubilee said gently. "Do you think you'd want to have a bunk bed in your room with Ael?"

Sying turned to face Jubilee with a _huge _grin on his face. "Oh, yes, please!" he said. "I want my little brother to stay with me, _please_! I'll show him all around the house and how to play in sand and how to not go too fast or break things too hard and all that stuff!"

"Yes, but no beach time without a grown up," Jubilee told him.

"Alright," Sying said, puffing out his breath in a sigh.

Jubilee rested her hand on his head, then quickly did the same for Ael. "He'll need to learn to swim. And some English."

"The _Marvel _has an excellent language program," Noh told her. "As for the swimming, I leave that in _your _capable hands, my Jubilee." He kissed her on the cheek. "I know you love the beach, after all."

"I think we'll start in the pool," she laughed as she guided the boys toward their room.

"A smart decision," he agreed as he directed the girls in the opposite direction. "And Sying," he added, and the little boy stopped to turn his way, "Ael doesn't have the same gifts that you and the girls and I do. He doesn't have nanites or enhanced speed or any of those things. So please _be careful_."

"Don't worry, Dad," Sying said earnestly. "I know how to be careful. That's how I play with Krissy and Amadi and all my friends."

"I just want to make sure you know how to be the best big brother you can be," Noh said, reaching over to boop Sying's nose and get the wrinkled-up expression out of him.

"Okay, I _got _it," Sying said, waving him off as Jubilee laughed and pulled the two little boys into their room to get them situated for the night.

* * *

The Howlett kids were still sound asleep, but Logan and K had gone down for coffee anyhow. The kids had spent a late night watching movies, and they were expected to sleep for another couple of hours. But that didn't mean the adults were going to wait for them to get their day started.

They had just gotten the coffee started when a few excited kids burst through the door — and it was not at all anyone that they had been expecting to see that morning, either.

"Grammy K! Grampa Wolvie!" the girls chanted, giggling as they rushed over to try and bowl over the two of them — which was a likely possibility with super strength if Logan and K were caught off their guard.

"What are you doing here so early?" Logan asked, scooping one of them up as he took a step back.

Melody giggled and kissed his cheek. "Mom said that's when _you're _awake, silly!" she explained.

"And we gotta _catch _you and tell you _all _about our brother!" Celeste agreed.

"What did he do this time?" K asked, tickling Celeste mercilessly. "And did you talk him into it?"

Celeste giggled. "Noooo," she said, trying to escape the tickles. "Our _other _brother!"

Both Logan and K stopped their picking and shared a raised eyebrow look. "What _other _brother?" Logan asked.

"Mom and Dad brought him home!" Melody laughed.

"And … you're here before coffee," he said, nodding slowly.

"'Cause that's when you're here," Celeste said. "Mel already _said_ that. You gotta _listen_."

"Yeah, I'm sure I do," he agreed, heading over to get his coffee.

"You know the drill, girls — help yourself to what you want. Let us wake up slow," K told them.

The girls giggled to each other as they climbed down and headed for the pantry to find something sugary. The Sugar Bombs that were usually on hand when Jubilee visited had long ago been eaten by the other kids, to their disappointment. But they'd no sooner found themselves a good cereal than the rest of their family came into the kitchen, with Noh carrying the little blue Kree, who looked like he was just waking up as he looked around the new school with his head on Noh's shoulder.

K was leaning into Logan, her coffee in her hands as they watched them come in. "Who's this little fella?"

"This is Ael," Noh explained, and the little boy raised a tired little hand at his name.

"You just couldn't pass it up, could you?" K said, one eyebrow arched high as she took a deep pull of her coffee.

"It was the best idea my Jubilee has had," Noh said with a grin Jubilee's way. "The moment she suggested it…"

"Wait, Jubes suggested this one?" Logan asked, smiling crookedly her way. "Izzat true, firecracker?"

"It's a learned behavior," she answered loftily.

"It's a _wonderful_ idea," Noh said. "And with Hala filled with the results of war… well."

"Congratulations, my darling sparkling _altea_," K said, grinning at them both. "He's adorable."

"You can say hello, if you'd like, but he only speaks Kree," Noh warned them both. "And, I think, a bit of Shi'ar."

"Maybe he's young enough to forget that crap," Logan said.

"I certainly hope so," Noh agreed.

"_Hello, little one,_" K said, in Kree, once the little guy was closer to the couple.

Ael picked his head up a little at the greeting and then smiled shyly. "_You sound funny. Like Jubilee does." _

K nodded in agreement. "_I'll work on that,_" she promised, though Jubilee let out a little chuckle and stuck her tongue out at her.

"_This is Grammy K,"_ Sying said, climbing up next to them as they talked. "_Remember? I told you about her and Grampa Wolvie?_"

"_Oh_!" Ael looked K over a little better this time, and then looked at Logan. "_You look not like your pictures._"

"_I guess it depends on the picture,_" Logan replied.

Ael nodded. "_Sying says you're nice,_" he said slowly.

"_You can decide for yourself,_" Logan told him.

Ael watched him carefully for a moment and then nodded before he put his head back down on Noh's shoulder.

"He's still pretty worn out and overwhelmed," Noh admitted. "It was a long flight home, and then to come to a new planet… there's a lot to take in. It was a lot for me, and I was grown when I came here."

"Probably oughta let him sleep," K said. "The kids when they come down will be busy. They spent half the night watching movies."

"We'll be around for a little while anyway," Jubilee said. "Just wanted to catch you guys first."

"Open suite next to Scott," Logan said with a little smirk.

"That is actually convenient for the other reason we came," Noh said, starting to smile all over again. "I need to speak with him in an official capacity."

"Well, officially, he shouldn't be showin' his face for another half an hour. Unofficially, he's probably staring at the ceiling," Logan said.

"Yes, how are they doing?" Noh asked with a frowning. "Scott and Charlie ... we've seen Remy, of course…"

"Still pretty shook up if you know what to look for," Logan told him. "If you don't, then he's perfectly fine."

"Well, it's understandable. If anything were to happen to Sying or the girls or Ael…" Noh shook his head.

"I can hug Charlie," Sying offered earnestly, looking between the adults with wide eyes.

"Probably best to feed your crew first," K said. "They'll be down as a group. Ours will be sleeping in. For a change."

Jubilee snorted out a laugh as she poured herself a bowl of the same sugary cereal the girls had. "Of course. We bring a new nephew for them and _this _is the day they sleep in."

"Took 'em fishin' yesterday too," Logan admitted. "So you missed all the good stuff."

"That's okay," Sying said, patting Logan's arm. "We've got lots of other stuff we can do. I'm gonna teach Ael about pirates with Krissy!"

"Good. Kurt needed a few more for the pirate ship," he agreed.

"He says everyone should be a pirate," Sying said happily.

Logan ruffled his hair and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "Now him? You can wake him up. He's been sleeping too much anyhow."

Sying grinned at that. "Okay," he said, zipping up the stairs as soon as he'd wriggled out from underneath Logan's arm.

Noh chuckled as he watched Sying leave. "You are cruel," he laughed.

"I _know _they're already awake," Logan told him. "Kate hasn't been sleeping much past seven. And she's been complaining about it from about five minutes after she wakes up."

"Well then," Noh said, still laughing. "Maybe that is a mission of mercy you've just sent my son on. My mistake."

Logan smirked at that, knowing full well that it was not.

And upstairs, Sying was excitedly rapping on the door, eyes wide and bouncing slightly in place because he was _just so excited _to tell Krissy and her family about his _new little brother_.

Kurt was the one to open the door, and Sying hardly even noticed that he looked tired because it transitioned to pleasant surprise so quickly as he crouched down beside Sying and let Sying fling his arms around his neck in a hug. Kurt didn't even have to crouch overmuch with how much Sying had been growing lately — a fact Sying was particularly proud of.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt asked with a warm smile.

"I got a new little brother!" Sying blurted out, still bouncing on his toes and clearly overexcited. "His name is Ael!"

"Oh?" Kurt asked, both eyebrows raised high.

"Uh-huh!" Sying grinned. "Mom and Dad brought him back from Hala because there was a war there, and Ael needed a place that was safe to stay, so he's gonna be our new brother."

Kurt smiled softly and gently ruffled Sying's hair. "That's wonderful," he told the excited little boy. "And you came all this way so we could meet him?"

"Yep!"

"Then I think," Kurt said, starting to stand, "that it's time we met your little brother. Would you like to help me round up the girls?"

"Sure!" Sying skipped past Kurt into the room, past Kate lying miserable on the couch and past Kaleb sleepily stumbling out of his room, to where Kari and Krissy were — with Krissy showing Kari how she did her ponytail just so, tucked in so that it twisted in on itself.

"Hi, Sying!" Kari called out, waving at him while Krissy played with her hair.

"Hi, Kari!" he called back, grinning.

"What are you doing here?" Krissy asked, tying off Kari's hair with a pink scrunchie before she ran over to give her friend a hug. "Are you visiting for summer vacation?"

"Sorta," he told her as he returned the hug. "I don't know how long we're gonna stick around, but Mom and Dad wanted to come here before my grandparents go to Canada."

"Oh yeah. Elin's gonna go play with Oliver," Krissy said, nodding along. "He's fun. We met at the party, and I think he's pretty cool, even if he is shy."

Sying shrugged. "But that's not why we came to say hi," he said, starting to grin mischievously.

"Oh?" Krissy tipped her head to the side, the slight swaying of her tail giving away her curiosity.

"My mom and dad went to Hala, and they brought me back a _baby brother_," Sying said, grinning widely and bouncing on his toes.

"You mean your mom is gonna have a baby?" Krissy asked.

He grinned and shook his head. "_No_," he laughed. "I mean Mom and Dad brought home a new brother. His name is Ael, and he's blue, just like you, Kari!"

"Is he fuzzy?" Kari asked, perking up at that.

Sying shook his head. "No, he looks like me, except he's blue. You'll see!" He waved at the girls to indicate that they should follow him. "I think you'll really, really like him. Except you gotta speak Kree, because he doesn't know any English or German or anything."

Kari wrinkled her nose. "How come?"

"It's 'cause he's from Hala, and that's what they speak there," Sying explained. "Dad said he's gonna try and teach him how to speak Terran languages, but if you want, I can speak Kree to him and you can say whatever and I'll tell him what you said, 'cause I know Kree's hard to learn."

"Only 'cause the sounds are so different," Krissy said quickly, defensively, as if she was worried that he might think she wasn't smart enough to keep up.

"I know," Sying said, holding his hands up. "Even Grammy K says it's hard, and she knows _everything_."

Krissy gave him a look that clearly said she didn't agree with him before she shrugged, made a face, and then pushed his shoulder. "Okay, where is your little brother?"

"I wanna meet him!" Kari agreed.

Sying grinned and led the way down the stairs — with Kurt following with a barely restrained grin once the kids were all set, one arm around Kate's shoulders as she grumpily leaned into him, though she wasn't about to miss the big news either once she'd heard about it. So the full Wagner clan was downstairs at about the same time that Ael had finally zonked out on Noh's shoulder while the girls were finishing up their breakfast and telling Logan and K all about their latest adventures.

When Kate saw the little blue Kree asleep on Noh's shoulder, she let out a noise and clasped both hands under her chin. "He's _so cute_," she breathed out.

"His name is Ael," Jubilee said, grinning over at Kate.

"He's blue like me," Kaleb said, leaning over the table so he could try to see Ael better.

"But not fuzzy," Kari said, resting her chin on the table as she watched the little boy.

"No, he's not an elfling like you are," Noh said, quietly, so as not to wake up the sleeping little boy. He stood up gently and looked over the group. "I'm going to take him upstairs. Maybe we can all play later, when he's not quite so tired," he suggested.

"Okay," Sying said, though he sounded disappointed.

Kurt leaned in with a little twinkle in his eye. "In the meantime," he said, "why don't we go sailing in the Danger Room after breakfast?"

Sying immediately perked back up and grinned _widely_. "Ooh. Yes please!"

Jubilee shook her head at the two boys. "I blame you," she told Kurt, though she couldn't quite keep the glare when she was also laughing at how _totally thrilled _Sying was as he dragged Kurt in the direction of the Danger Room.

((good here))

That kid is so lucky.

* * *

**Chapter 6: "Ambassador Varr"**

Scott had actually been awake for a while now, but as was usual in the last few weeks, he couldn't go anywhere just yet.

He'd fallen asleep in Chance and Charlie's room — again. It had still only been a couple weeks since Sinister had decided to poke his nose back into their lives, and it was a tossup as to who felt better about Scott staying in the room with Charlie. Both he and Charlie seemed to be at least slightly less on edge as long as they could _see _each other, so… he wound up on the floor more often than not.

It was doing murder to his neck, but he wasn't really able to sleep otherwise.

He glanced toward Charlie when she started to wake up and gently rubbed her back as she rubbed her eyes. "You sleep alright?"

She nodded tiredly and gently started to disentangle herself from the covers, though she paused halfway through her usual waking up routine and glanced up at Scott with her head tipped to the side. "There's people visiting," she said slowly. "Everybody's really happy about it; I can feel it _way _up here."

"Should we go see who it is?" Scott asked, unable to hide the proud smile — it really did seem like Charlie was getting more and more of a handle on her powers.

Charlie grinned crookedly. "Well, _I _already know, but I guess you can find out."

Scott grinned at that as he got to his feet and rolled his neck a few times before he gestured for her to lead the way, and the two of them made their way downstairs together. Most of the group had already split up — Sying with Krissy and Kurt; the girls with Kari and Kaleb — but Kate had settled into a chair and did _not _look like she was going to move, and Jubilee was still talking to Logan and K to tell them about how they'd found Ael.

Charlie grinned when she saw Jubilee and then broke into a run to rush over and throw her arms around Jubilee in a hug. "I love it when people bring happiness!" she grinned.

"Hey, Jubes," Scott said with a smile as he sat down by her, still rubbing his neck. "I thought you and Noh were spending some extra time in space for your trip."

"We decided to come back early so we could spend time with the _whole _family," Jubilee said with an impish grin.

Charlie couldn't stop grinning up at Jubilee either, caught up in her excitement. "Well, you are _really _excited, so you must have had fun," she said.

"So, _so _much fun," Jubilee replied.

"Before or after you had to take a side trip?" Scott asked with a small smirk. "I heard about the detour."

"Um…. _Yes_," Jubilee decided after half a second of pretending to think it over. "The whole riding in with our shining spaceship was one thing, but the little guy … totally awesome."

"What little guy?" Scott asked.

"We adopted a little Kree boy from war-torn Hala!" Jubilee said with a grin. "He's darling, but he only speaks Kree so far."

Scott stared at her for a moment as Charlie started to giggle happily. "You… what? I didn't know you were thinking about adopting."

"Well, I mean, it's kinda hard on me otherwise," Jubilee said with a little blush. "And … there were a lot of them that were going to have to grow up in that orphanage."

Scott stared for a moment longer before he started to smile. "So did you bring him?"

Jubilee nodded and gestured to where little Ael was asleep, snuggled in with Noh. "And Noh wanted to talk to you. Shop talk. Matters of the galaxy and all that."

"Shop talk?" Charlie repeated, wrinkling her nose as she looked between Jubilee and Noh and then Scott. "But he's so _excited_."

"Boring grown-up crap that has made Noh very, _very _happy," Jubilee said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Then it's not boring," Charlie teased.

"Not when you know how important it is to him, no," Jubilee agreed. "But if it was anyone else, I'd tell 'em 'big whoop-i-dee doo.'"

"It's 'cause you love him," Charlie giggled.

Scott grinned at Charlie. "Even we can see that," he said, ruffling her hair before he looked over at Noh. "War Room?" he offered.

Noh nodded once and then gently readjusted Ael so he could hand the sleeping like boy off to Jubilee. "Let us know when he wakes up," he told Jubilee and kissed her on the cheek. "I think the elflings were disappointed he was asleep for their meeting."

Scott gestured for Noh to follow him down to the War Room from there, and he was a bit surprised to see that Noh was still steadily grinning even with the switch from the introduction of Ael to … whatever this was.

"So," Scott said as they reached the War Room and he closed the door behind them. "What's up?"

Noh's grin only widened. "Logan and K likely told you that Hala has a new leader with Sinta, yes?" he said, and when Scott nodded, he took a seat, spreading his hands out in front of him. "Well," he said slowly, "he's asked me to take an official position for Hala. One that has not existed before — not really." He grinned up at Scott. "I've agreed to be Hala's ambassador to Earth, in the interest of starting relations anew between our two worlds."

"An ambassador?" Scott repeated, both eyebrows raised.

Noh nodded. "Hala was overrun for two years and had no alliances to come to its aid because of the poor decisions of its prior leadership," he explained. He leaned forward with a slightly more restrained smile. "Much has changed there since the Kree invaded our world," he told him honestly. "They _chose _to follow Sinta. The Supremor is gone. Things are… different." He leaned back again. "I am, for the first time, hopeful that my people can coexist with us."

Scott stared at Noh for a long moment before he finally offered a quiet, "Well. Congratulations."

Noh simply _beamed _at him as he nodded. "Don't misunderstand," he said. "The team is still my family, and I value them above all else, but…" He leaned forward, his eyes shining with excitement. "I have been an outcast from my own people since I was not even twenty years old. To think that things have changed so much that they would ask me to _represent _them…" He shook his head. "I have no illusions, mind you. I know Sinta asked me because I am already established here. But I'm Kree. I miss being Kree."

"No reason you can't be both," Scott reasoned.

"No, of course not," Noh said quickly. "I fully intend to stay on at the LA institute and to continue to be part of the team."

"Good. I'm sure the kids you've been working with would miss you if you left," Scott agreed. "And again — _congratulations. _Really. On everything."

Noh grinned. "Thank you," he said. "I'm sure this means I will be seeing more of Hala — and, of course, Westchester." He smirked. "I tend to think an alliance with the X-Men and the Avengers is much better than with the split governments of your world. Not that I won't try, but considering how the laws of the land have affected our families…" He shook his head. "I would much rather deal with you and with the good Captain."

Scott smirked at that, simply nodding his head in agreement. "Glad to hear that, really," he said. "You know, if you need to go talk to Captain America, they're welcome to stay here with us. Charlie would love to play with them — especially since they're so happy."

"How is Charlie, by the way?" Noh asked, finally coming down from his high enough for a subject change. "We heard from the others who came to Hala what happened. I'm glad to hear it was dealt with quickly but sorry to hear it happened at all."

"She does better when she's around people who are happy," Scott said. "She hasn't learned how not to be affected by the emotions around her yet."

"Then I'm sure our family would love to stay here for a while," Noh said with a warm smile. "Sying has been sorely missing the Wagners anyway — and you should meet Ael when he's awake." He paused. "He only speaks Kree; you should know. And a little Shi'ar — but considering all that he has been through, I would _not _recommend speaking Shi'ar around him.

"Yeah, most of the Shi'ar we have had to use in the last few years has only been meeting their declarations of war," Scott said with a smirk.

"If I were not so content to stay here with my family…" Noh shook his head. "They have been spreading unchecked, with the Skrull homeworld destroyed and Hala divided. If I were younger and had the full arsenal my ship _used _to have when it first arrived, I would address that calamity."

"One thing at a time, Ambassador," Scott replied. "It'll come out sooner or later."

Noh laughed lightly as he nodded. "Yes. There is just so _much _that I can't help hoping for. If my people can change, perhaps we can ask for other such miracles."

As the two of them were chatting and headed back to the others, Elin finally made her way down, rubbing her eyes, since her parents weren't joking: the kids were up unreasonably late the night before. She smiled Noh's way as he chatted with Scott and made her way over to climb up next to Jubilee. "Are you coming to Canada too?" she asked, sitting with the adults rather than going to the kids.

"No, we're going to be in New York for a while," Jubilee told her, booping her nose and readjusting Ael in her arms. "We're introducing Ael to our family."

"Oh," Elin replied, looking at the still sleeping little boy. "Did you bring him from Hala?"

Jubilee nodded. "We decided we wanted him to be part of our family."

"He only speaks Kree," Noh added, smiling over at Elin. "When he wakes up, you should show him your beautiful language skills."

"Okay," she agreed as she crossed her arms on the table and propped her chin up. "He'll learn fast."

"He will," Noh agreed. "He's still young — and he's very smart, like you are."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you," she replied. "Do you want him to learn English right away?"

Noh nodded. "We'll be working on that so he can understand the others at the school," he said. "It's not fair for him to be the only one who doesn't know what's happening." He leaned forward with a twinkle in his eye. "But I'll also be teaching Kree in California, so the staff can speak to him on his level as well. And I'll be teaching it _my _way."

"I'm learning Polish right now," she said, nodding.

"That's wonderful," he said. "Are you learning from Erik?"

"Yes," she nodded. "He likes to teach me things like that."

Jubilee smiled at her. "Plus, no one can resist a cute little feral like you," she teased.

Elin scrunched up her nose. "You're silly," she said, shaking her head.

"And right," Jubilee teased right back as Ael finally started to stir awake from his nap.

Elin tipped her head so she was at about the same angle as Ael. "_Welcome to Earth," _she said with a little smile in her much-better Kree than what either of her parents had bothered to polish up.

Ael's eyes widened, and he smiled at her. "_Hi,_" he said with a shy wave. "_You don't sound as funny as everybody else." _

"_Noh taught me before anyone else," _she explained. "_And I speak a lot of different languages. It helps, I think. That's what my dad says anyhow._"

"_Who's your dad?_" Ael asked, sitting up a little straighter and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes so he could properly engage in the conversation.

Elin pointed toward Logan and K. "_They're my parents,_" she said. "_Would you like to go play in a little while?" _

Ael looked a little uncertain and glanced up at Jubilee, who nodded lightly. "_I guess so,_" he said. "_I don't really know where things are._"

"_We can stay here by the grown ups if you want to,_" Elin said. "_And my little brother and sister will be down soon too. James speaks Kree too, but Sadie doesn't know much yet."_

"_Noh says I can learn Terran languages,_" Ael said.

Elin nodded and quickly but clearly told him the translations for "hello," "yes," and "no."

Ael grinned at that last one. "_It's really close to Noh's name_," he said with a shy sort of laugh.

"_It really is,_" she giggled. "_That's part of why my mom calls him silly names instead." _

"_What kind of silly names?" _Ael asked, grinning and clearly entranced by Elin.

Elin grinned. "_Sparkly Moondust Angel Baby._"

Ael burst out laughing. "_That's such a long name!" _

"_She keeps changing it, too._" Elin was smiling broadly at him.

"_Why?" _Ael said. "_How can she tell what name is his?" _

"_To make him give her a look,_" Elin said. "_His nicknames are all silly space names with the stars._"

Ael grinned. "_My name is a fighter name,_" he told her. "_My name is Ael…" _He paused and looked toward Jubilee. "_And Jubilee said if I like it, it can be Ael-Varr._"

"_I like that_," Elin said. "_I'm Elin._"

"_Does your name mean something too? Jubilee's name means celebrating. That's what she said when I asked her." _

"_My name means 'light'." _

He grinned. "_That's a good name to have. Terran names are happy names._"

"_They are. I like them_," she said. "_But some of the otherworldly names are fun too._"

Ael smiled and nodded. "_Like my name and Noh's name," _he said. "_Sying and Melody and Celeste have Earth names, and they all mean happy things like music and stars." _He leaned in wide-eyed. "_Sying's name is a whole different language than his sisters. There's a _lot _to learn!" _

She smiled at him and settled in to let him decide what he wanted to do, kicking her feet.

He glanced up at Jubilee again, and when she didn't tell him one way or another, he frowned and turned back to Elin. "_Let's play here," _he decided. "_I don't want to lose Jubilee or Noh_."

She tipped her head to the side. "_You won't lose them," _she said. "_They really, really like you._"

Ael shrugged. "_I like them too. But sometimes grown-ups go away._"

She shook her head seriously. "_Yes, but these grown-ups are really really good at coming back from stuff,_" she told him. "_My mom and dad were with Noh and Jubilee in Hala just a little while ago fighting Shi'ar. They kicked butt and came back. It's what they do._"

Ael tipped his head to the side to mirror her earlier movement. "_Okay,_" he said slowly. "_But let's play here." _

She nodded her head and looked up at Noh. "Can you bring us some coloring books and crayons, please? He doesn't want to go too far."

"Of course," Noh said with a warm smile before he zipped off to do just that and returned a moment later with a smile as Ael looked awed again at seeing everything Noh could do.

"Thank you," Elin said with a grin before she turned to Ael and started to tell him the names of the colors as they used them.

"You have the most amazing daughter," Noh told K with a smile as he watched the kids interact.

"Gets it from her father," K said without missing a beat.

"Perhaps you need another lesson in genetics," Noh teased lightly.

"No, no, I'm right on this one, right, Jubes?" K said, smirking at Jubilee.

Jubilee flashed her a thumbs up. "Oh, for sure."

"See? Jury's in. It is decided," K said with a nod.

Noh laughed and shook his head at both of them before he gave Jubilee a kiss as he headed for the door. "I'm going to run to Avenger's Tower for a moment," he told her before he swept out — just passing Kaleb and the twins on their way in as they chased each other over the walls and ceilings into the kitchen.

"Kaleb," Kate called out tiredly, "what's the rule about running on the ceiling?"

"Not to do it," Kaleb sang back to her. "Not without a grown-up."

"And…"

Kaleb looked down at his feet as if he'd only just then noticed he was on the ceiling. "Oh, it's okay, Mama. I wiped my feet."

Kate shook her head with one hand over her forehead. "Get down from the ceiling, Kaleb."

"Okay." Kaleb grinned crookedly as he and the twins climbed down, and he grabbed a hold of one of each of their hands as they headed to the table where all the adults were. "Where's the other blue boy?" he asked Jubilee curiously. "I wanted to say hi!"

"He's in the living room with Elin," Jubilee told him, and Kaleb instantly broke into a grin and rushed off, though Melody stayed behind and climbed up the table leg so she could drop into K's lap and show her the handful of pink flowers she had picked from the greenhouse.

"For you," she said brightly.

"Oh, those are kind of pretty," K told her before she gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"They're pink!" Melody said brightly. "Pink is my favorite."

"I know, and yellow is your sister's favorite," K agreed.

"Uh-huh." Melody nodded. "So she picked some yellow ones for Grampa Wolvie, but she got distracted." She gestured toward the living room. "Cuz we have a new brother."

"That will happen with little brothers," she agreed.

Melody nodded happily. "I like him," she said before she took one of the flowers and started to try to stick it behind K's ear.

"He seems very nice," K agreed as she helped the excited little girl with the flower.

Melody grinned when they'd finished tucking the flower. "You gotta wear pink, Grammy K," she told her very seriously.

"Where and why do I gotta wear pink?" K asked.

"Well, Grampa Wolvie's got yellow," Melody said, again perfectly serious. "So you should wear pink."

K narrowed her eyes slightly. "I don't know that I follow your logic, snuggle bug."

"Well, it's not _fair _if you only wear _Celeste's _favorite color," Melody said. "You gotta have _both _of us!"

K let out a little 'ah' as she nodded her head. "You do know that Grampa Wolvie was wearing yellow even before he met your mom, right?"

"But you gotta wear _pink_, Grammy K," Melody insisted.

"But I'm not sure pink is the best color to wear into a fight, angel," she told her. "I can wear a pink dress the next time I see you …"

"You can wear _anything _in a fight," Melody said. "You can fight _anything._"

"That's true," she said, nodding. "But if I wear pink in a fight, it'll make the bad guys I beat up feel even worse."

Melody leaned in with a look just like her mother's. "Well, that's their fault for being sad they got beat up by girly-girls, huh?"

K rubbed noses with her for a moment. "Yes. But I'm not very girly-girl most of the time when I'm beating them up."

"You could be a little more girly," Melody said with a little nod. "You're really pretty. So you can wear pretty things."

"I'll think about it, sweetheart," K promised.

Melody scrutinized K's expression closely for a long moment before she finally nodded. "Okay," she said, sliding off of K's lap to go join the others playing with Ael — and to Jubilee's credit, she at least managed to hold in the laugh until _after _the kids were gone.

"You are not funny," K said with a finger pointed her way.

"She did that all on her own," Jubilee swore with one hand raised, scout's honor.

"Still, not funny."

"Maybe a pink headband," Kate suggested from across the table. "I mean, I wear a purple one. It's actually helpful keeping my hair back."

"I'm not wearing a headband," K said, shaking her head. "Forget it."

"Scrunchie?" Kate offered.

"Har-de-har-har," she deadpanned.

"It's not too much of a change if it's a hair tie," Kate defended. "And it would make your granddaughter _so _happy," she added, this time unable to stop the giggle.

"You're terrible," K said with a laugh. "Just for that, I might have to change to a full dress and heels for a while."

"Steel toes," Scott said with a smirk. "Sharpened heels."

"No," K said airly. "Just steel-reinforced stilettos. No need to sharpen them. Want a demo?"

Scott hold up both hands in front of himself. "I'll stop helping then," he teased. "What was I thinking? You don't need the extra edge."

"See, now I think I might have to," K said. "That _is _what I used to do, after all."

"I can take you dress shopping when you get back from Canada," Kate offered with a small smile. "I need to go shopping anyway."

"Like you won't have a selection when I get back anyhow," K scoffed.

"Oh, I so will," Kate said. "But it's more fun when you get to see them too. And besides." She rested her hand on her stomach. "I need your opinion on some things. Turns out number four is a _boy_. Hank _lied _to me."

"Ungrateful little stinker," K said, shaking her head. "And so shy like dad…"

Kate chuckled at that. "Not so much this time around. He just waited until we'd bought him some sweet little dresses, some 'it's a girl' announcements…"

"That's diabolical, but sure. I'll help you last minute shop," K agreed. "I don't think the trip to Canada is going to be too long."

"Why not?" Scott asked with his best straight face.

"No reason," K said airly.

"It's because she wants to spend more time with Ael, _obviously_," Jubilee said, waving her hand with her nose in the air.

"And because she just can't _wait _to go shopping," Kate giggled.

"If you're just sending me? Then I can do it quickly," K laughed. "I'll just put an earwig in and talk to you loudly while I do the snooty routine."

Kate giggled. "We'll see. I'd kind of love to get out of the house too. Just for the sake of sanity."

"We'll send you lots of pictures, Scott. I know you're just _dying _to see the school again," K said in her sweetest tones.

Scott shot her a dry look. "Right. Send them my regards, but I'm a little busy."

"Don't worry, Scott; I'm not going to torture you," K said. "I have better things to do."

Scott shook his head at that but got to his feet all the same. "Have fun, K."

"I'll bring you back some maple syrup, my sugary sweet hero," she called to him.

"And here I thought Sying was the maple syrup sugar whatever."

"No, no," K said, shaking her head. "He's the sparkling maple leaf coated in syrup. You just get the refined stuff."

Scott shook his head, but he wasn't going to try to make sense of that, so he simply headed upstairs in search of better sleep than he got spending the night on Charlie's floor.


	7. Fishing

**Chapter 7: "Fishing" **

When the Howletts got to Heather and Mac's place, it was late in the day, and the little group of Hudsons were positively tickled to have them.

What no one at the Institute knew was that Logan had made it crystal clear that he wasn't going to meet up with Mac at the new school. It just wasn't going to happen. But it hadn't slowed Heather down in the least, and she was more than happy to have them meet up with them at their cabin on the lake. It was a lot more populated than any of Logan's usual destinations, which meant that there would likely be other people on the lake while they were there. But it was, for the most part, a very typical family style vacation, which meant relaxing on the lake and fishing more days than not.

But Logan was under no delusions. He knew that, sooner or later, Mac would again start his pitch to come back to the team. He just hadn't expected him to wait until Oliver was once again very comfortable with Elin and James.

The two boys had started to play nearly from the time they both woke up to when they were carried inside from all of the playing and exploring they'd done all day, exhausted and more than ready to settle in and fall asleep. Oliver was a little bit bored to start with and was sorely missing his movies, but James taught him how to follow animal footprints in the woods, and the two of them spent a lot of time chasing down rabbit trails and picking berries, only to come back with red-stained faces and fingers.

And when he'd gotten tired of that, he joined Elin, who was taking some time to learn how to fish, sitting with her father and kicking her feet over the edge of the pier, humming little tunes to herself.

Heather had insisted on a fire to cook the fish they'd all caught, and after the kids were done with dinner and their roasted marshmallows, Elin and Oliver had curled up next to each other, exhausted from the games they'd been playing with James.

"You know, sooner or later, you're going to need to poke your head in," Mac said, as off-handedly as he could, Logan's way.

"What for?" Logan asked. "I'm not in charge of anything. Not my department. I got enough going on, running back and forth between X-Men and Avengers every time Cap decides he needs something."

"He needs to lose in poker more often," K said as she tipped back her beer. "That's what he likes to do. Lose to you."

Logan chuckled at her but didn't argue the point — and amazingly, Mac didn't try to press. Not with both of them there to back each other up anyhow. Of course, once K and Heather took the kids inside, it was a little different story as the booze and the jokes began to flow more freely.

When the women came back out to the party, the two of them were arm in arm, and Logan had managed a solid buzz, which meant he'd pushed himself to get there and was still working hard to _stay _there.

"They used to do this all the time," Heather said. "Drove me crazy, since yours would just burn it off like nothing and mine would be feeling it for days — which he will be again because he _never learns._"

"Hazards of being male, I suppose," K said with a shrug before she took the bottle from Mac. "Your wife says you've been cut off, cowboy."

"He's the one with the hat, not me," Mac slurred, and the two of them started chuckling to themselves at the little joke hard enough that K had to shake her head and pull out her phone to snap a few photos of the two of them beside themselves laughing and propping each other up.

But the damage was already done — to Mac anyhow — and all that meant was that he was going to be more open on what it was he wanted, hoping that Logan would be more receptive to the idea of popping in on the Canadian school that Alpha Flight was running.

"Just … just a few days would be good, wouldn't it?" Mac said. "Come on … you wanna see Walter with a class of kids; I know you do. It's _amazing._"

Logan had to grin at the mental image of Sasquatch trying to teach … well. _Anything. _"I dunno, we're pretty damn busy, to be honest," Logan told him.

"You can go have poker night with Captain America, but you can't come say 'hi' to our kids? Come on …"

Logan let out a little laugh. "You'd bend over backwards to get into the same room as Steve for five minutes. Don't try to pull a guilt trip. Ain't gonna work."

Mac was quiet for a little while, and then he let out a long sigh. "So, I guess you wouldn't be interested in letting Snowbird meet your kids finally when she comes out of hiding for a little talk this fall?"

"That's playin' dirty," Logan said low.

"Not really. Just figured I'd let you know. "For as reclusive as _she is,_ she's still gonna come out for a day." Mac looked hopeful, but he was trying very hard not to look overly eager for a yes, even if it was already blown.

It had been _years _since Logan had seen Snowbird, and he didn't think she'd ever met K, let alone the kids. It was good bait. He looked at the whiskey bottle in his hand and frowned before he took a long pull and threw the empty bottle in the fire. "I'll think about it."

But that was good enough to get a grin out of Mac as the two of them turned their sights toward the final fishing trip that they were going to go on before the two families parted ways.

Of course, Heather had learned long ago to not push K too hard, or a genuine 'maybe' would very quickly shift to a hard 'no'. So instead of tackling the hard subjects, Mrs. Hudson stuck to safer territory: the kids, how Jubilee and Kitty were faring, the stuff that K had to try to be patient with when she discussed such matters.

And when Sadie came out a short while into their talk while the guys were still out by the fire, Heather did all she could not to intervene as K picked up the little girl and shooshed her, snuggling her and stroking her hair as she muttered to her in Swedish until she'd gotten over her little nightmare.

Once she was tucked in again, K really only had to look at the expression on Heather's face to see where her mind was working, and she decided to intervene. "So, when are you going to get Oliver a brother or sister? I know you wanted more than one."

Heather let out a little laugh, and dove into their plans — at least until Logan half carried Mac in, both of them stinkin' drunk.

"Oh, I've got the handsome one," K teased. "You get the … tall one."

"So not helpful," Heather laughed as Mac grinned crookedly at both of them before Heather wished them goodnight and led him off to their room.

Logan was grinning crookedly and didn't wait for the Hudsons to disappear to go right to extremely affectionate with his wife. He was kissing her neck when he dropped his voice low and spoke at just over a whisper to her. "We're leaving as soon as we're done fishing tomorrow," he told her.

She pulled back to look at him, but he frowned and shook his head and then pulled her down to their room, grinning the whole way.

* * *

Jubilee was grinning widely at the little boy in her lap as she and her family flew back in the _Marvel _to LA. Ael had spent just about every waking moment with the kids at Westchester — especially Elin, who he stuck to like glue.

And after Elin had left to go to Canada, Ael had looked a little lost until he met Jolie, and he was so _fascinated _by her ability to purr and by her tail that he moved on from spending all his time with Elin to spending all his time with Jolie and Kaleb.

But it was his time with Elin that helped the most with his English. After all, she had plenty of practice learning on her own as well as teaching her little brother and sister. Already, Jubilee and Noh were tickled with how many colors he was able to remember — and he could say 'yes' and 'no' as well as 'hello' and 'goodbye' and 'please' and 'thanks'.

So all the way home, Ael was proudly showing Jubilee what he had learned. "_And this is _yellow_," _he told her, saying the last word in English rather than Kree as he tugged on Jubilee's coat. "_Which is Celeste's favorite color."_

Jubilee nodded with a proud sort of smile and then rubbed noses with the little boy. "_That's right. You're so smart."_

"_I want to learn," _Ael told her earnestly. "_I don't want to go back to Hala. I like everybody here." _

Jubilee let out a soft noise before she pulled Ael into a hug. "_You just learn what you can. You're staying here with us no matter what," _she promised.

Ael searched her face for a moment before he nodded. "_Okay_."

She rubbed noses with him again with a little smile. "_We love you very much, Ael,_" she told him. "_We just want you to learn English so you can understand everybody. Not all of our friends know Kree."_

"_I know," _Ael said, scrubbing a hand over his nose. He still wasn't entirely sure about the rubbing noses thing.

"_Why don't you tell me what else you did with your friends?" _Jubilee suggested.

Ael nodded and launched into an explanation of how Sying played with him no matter _who _he was playing with because he wanted to make sure that Ael could talk to anybody he wanted. He talked about how Jolie's dad was blue too and how he knew Kree but he didn't say some of the words right because he learned it by reading it.

He talked about how he liked playing with the elflings but didn't like it when they and his new siblings would climb the walls because he couldn't do that. He liked playing with Chloe, because she didn't mind if he didn't talk much and had taught him how to play Sorry, which was easy to learn as long as Sying read the numbers to him so he could know how many spaces to move.

He liked Annie, even though she didn't speak any Kree, because she always made sure that he didn't get left out when the kids were playing. And he liked the bamfs, because nobody understood them either — except for a few people — and they were blue too.

He liked the trees in Westchester, which were so tall, like the big buildings back on Hala. He'd never been outside of the capital city in Hala, so he had never experienced grass and trees or the open _space _that was the Westchester location. There were no other buildings around for ever and ever, and it seemed so strange to him that there wouldn't be any closer people.

He liked swimming in the pool with Jubilee and running through the sprinklers with Kaleb. He hadn't been too sure about the water balloon fight, but he thought maybe he might join in next time, because it _had _looked like fun.

"_It's all so different!" _Ael summed up.

"_And do you like it so far?" _Jubilee asked gently.

Ael nodded a couple of times. "_Some things are a little scary," _he admitted. "_I don't think I like all the trees."_

"_Why not?"_

"_I might get lost," _Ael told her honestly.

"_Well then it's a good thing we live where there's a beach, and I can find you anywhere," _Jubilee decided. She leaned forward with a small smile. "_If you ever get lost, you can call out for help. I can hear you in your head louder than you can shout," _she said, tapping him in the center of the forehead.

"_Like Chloe's big sister?"_

Jubilee smirked. She knew he had to be talking about Charlie, since Rachel was in Chicago, but it was a fitting question that he didn't even realize was so perfect. "_A little bit like Charlie," _she said. "_But Charlie knows what you're feeling. I know what you're thinking." _She paused. "_If I want to. And if _you _want me to."_

Ael considered this for a long moment before he slowly started to smile. "_Then it _would _be hard to get lost." _

Jubilee nodded and pulled him into a snuggle. "_Don't you worry. You're part of our family now, and we take good care of the people we love, okay?"_

"_Okay." _He rested his head on her shoulder and held on with his arms around her neck for a while, both of them soaking in the hug until Noh called out to let them know that they were landing.

The older kids rushed out of the ship as soon as they touched down, giggling and tumbling around as they headed inside to drop off their things — and also so that they could change into their bathing suits. The girls had decided that they missed playing on the beach, and Sying wanted to show Ael the sailboat that he could take out on the waves when the water was calm and when Noh or someone grown-up went with him.

But Ael just held onto Jubilee's sleeve as she carried him into the LA school, with a wide-eyed look that Jubilee had learned to identify as his nervous expression. "_What's wrong?" _she asked gently.

"_The water is so big," _Ael told her. "_When we looked at it… it's bigger than the trees." _

Jubilee nodded and brushed back his hair with one hand. "_We won't go in the big water if you don't want to. We can look at some tidal pools instead."_

"_Tidal pools?"_

"_Smaller than swimming pools," _she said with a little smile. "_The water isn't so big there, but you can still play in the sand and see some fish. What do you think?"_

Ael thought about it for a long moment, chewing on his lower lip. "_Okay. I can try it." _

"_And if you want to go inside, we can go up to our suite," _Jubilee promised.

"_And can you tell more stories?" _Ael asked, wide-eyed.

Jubilee had to grin. The little Kree seemed to lap up everything she told him about her time on the team when she was younger, about how she met Logan and joined the team and other stories like that — though obviously, she played a lot of it down for the very small little boy's ears. "_Whatever stories you want," _she promised.

He seemed to be emboldened at that and straightened up with a little nod, though he was still holding tightly to Jubilee's sleeve as they arrived long after the speedier half-Kree kids had already run up the stairs and changed into their suits — and were now hanging on Noh telling him about how he just _had _to come and play with them and how Ael just _had _to play in the sand because it was so _funny _when it got in between your toes.

Jubilee helped Ael get changed into his swimsuit — and didn't miss the fact that there were _magically _a few outfits in Ael's size that hadn't been there when they left LA, though she wasn't sure which of the LA residents to blame. Storm would absolutely do something like that, but Theresa was a Hale sister, and Kamala and Miles were sweethearts… She'd figure it out easily enough, she was sure. And give the responsible party a big hug.

Once everyone was ready to go, Sying caught up to Jubilee and Ael, taking his big brother responsibilities incredibly seriously as he held Ael's hand — and didn't complain about having to go slow because Ael couldn't keep up.

"_Mom said you could play in the tidal pools," _Sying said.

Ael scrunched up his nose as he concentrated. "Yes," he said, holding the 's' a bit longer than necessary, but Sying still grinned broadly at him.

"Yes!" He punched the air with the hand that wasn't holding Ael's. "_Sometimes cool things wash up in the tidal pools," _he told Ael, swinging their hands between them. "_Like starfish and crabs and stuff."_

"_I don't know what those words are," _Ael said, his lower lip pushed out the slightest bit.

"_That's okay," _Sying promised. "_They're animals."_

"_Like wolverines?"_

Sying giggled. "_Not really. They're animals that live in the water."_

Ael considered this for a moment before he nodded slowly. "_Alright_."

Once they got to the beach, the girls immediately roped Noh into building sand castles with them, but Ael took a lot longer to warm up to the situation. He'd been carried by Jubilee the last time they went to the beach, and he hadn't wanted to be set down, so when this time around he did get to put his feet in the sand, he almost drew back, surprised by the sensation on his feet and toes as he stared down at them.

Sying seemed to sense how reluctant Ael was, and he stayed right beside him, holding his hand as he pushed his feet deeper into the sand beside Ael. "_Pretty cool, right?" _he said, wiggling his toes so that Ael could see the sand moving with his feet. "_That's why our sisters like playing in the sand. It feels really cool."_

"_It feels… like it's not solid," _Ael said haltingly. "_You're sinking!"_

Sying shook his head quickly. "_No, no, see?" _He picked up his feet one at a time to show that he was perfectly capable of moving. "_Sand is solid. It's just made up of lots of little pieces instead of one big piece like a floor."_

Ael tipped his head to the side, watching as Sying scooped up some of the sand in his hand to hold out in front of Ael's face. But when Ael looked very, very closely, he could see that Sying was right: there were lots and lots of little pieces.

"_We can walk around for a while if you want to get used to it," _Sying offered, and Ael held onto his hand for support.

But after a while, Ael started to get used to walking around in the sand. It was still strange, and he wasn't sure that he liked it, but he had figured out how to do it.

So, very carefully, Sying led him over to one of the tide pools, with Jubilee following close behind the boys so that Ael was sure to know that if he decided he didn't like anything at all, he could leave.

Once again, Ael was a bit nervous about trying something new, and he paused as Sying crouched down and ran his hands in the water. "_It's just like a swimming pool, but with more colors and things to find," _he explained.

Ael watched Sying for a moment before he slowly waded into the shallow water, grinning when he found that it was a lot like standing on the stairs with Jubilee in the swimming pool.

He was just starting to relax, though, when a brightly-colored _something _swam past him, and he scrambled back out of the water in a heartbeat, his eyes wide as Sying rushed over to him with a look of concern.

"_Are you okay?"_

"_What is _that_?" _Ael asked, pointing, but the brightly-colored thing was gone now.

Sying tried to follow where Ael was pointing but didn't see anything. "_Well, what did it look like?" _

"_It was…" _Ael scrunched his nose up as he tried to think. "_It was _blue_," _he said, smiling to himself as he was able to remember the color. "_And fast."_

"_Maybe you saw a fish," _Sying suggested.

Ael frowned. "_Are fish fast?"_

"_Some of them are," _Sying said with a nod. "_But don't worry. They're kinda small in tidal pools. If you wanna see bigger ones, we could get a glass boat or maybe go to the aquarium if you don't wanna be in the water."_

"_I don't want to see bigger ones," _Ael said, still frowning.

"_That's okay," _Sying said quickly. "_We'll just see smaller ones, okay?_" He crouched down and put his hands in the water for a moment before he came up with something sort of pink-ish. "_Here,_" he said. "_This is a sea shell."_

"_Is it a fish?"_

"_No,_" Sying shook his head with a little grin. "_Sometimes animals live in these, and they leave them behind." _He held it up to his ear, and the grin widened. "_It sounds like the ocean in there."_

Ael didn't quite look like he believed Sying, but as long as it wasn't a fish, he decided it might be okay to at least listen to it. He took the seashell from Sying and held it up to his ear, his eyes widening when he could hear a sort of whooshing sound.

"_Pretty cool!" _Sying said, and Ael had to nod, holding onto the seashell with one hand as he let Sying lead him back to the tidal pool. This time, they didn't get in, instead watching the water until Ael saw the little blue fish swim out from behind some rocks.

It looked a lot slower than it had when he was standing in the water.

"_Is that the fish you saw?" _Sying asked him, and he nodded. "_That's a pretty one. And it's pretty small. Don't worry about that. They just swim around and don't really bother anybody."_

Ael nodded quietly as he watched the blue fish make its way through the pool — and then quickly dart away when a slightly bigger fish came swimming close by. The bigger one was sort of a dark yellow with brown all over, and the more Ael watched it, the more he thought it looked kind of funny.

"_Here, look at this one," _Sying said, drawing Ael's attention back to him. This time, he had a little starfish in his hands, and Ael's eyes widened as he ran a finger over the bristly skin. "_This is a starfish."_

"_Why's it called that?"_

"'_Cause it looks like a star."_

"_That is _not _what stars look like," _Ael argued, shaking his head.

"_It kind of is when you look at them in the sky and the light gets all pointy,_" Sying said with a shrug. "_I don't know. That's just its name."_

Ael frowned at the starfish, but he watched as Sying put it back in the tidal pool and then crouched down a little closer to the water. "_What's that?" _he asked, pointing at a strange-looking thing that seemed to be growing out of the rocks. It was made of lots of little tubes, and it seemed to him, all bright green — and there was another one close by that was red.

"_That's an anemone," _Sying said.

Ael carefully repeated the name of the creature, the grin slowly spreading over his face as he started to follow Sying through the pools, pointing out different creatures and asking for their names — and asking Jubilee when Sying didn't know all the different _kinds _of fish. There were so many, even in the few tide pools they visited, though Jubilee didn't seem to know all of their names either.

Ael had a nice little collection of sea shells going by the time they hit the last tidal pool, but when he saw the weirdly shaped _thing _in the bottom of this one, he stopped up short and stood behind Sying. "_What's that?"_

"_Oooh, that's an octopus," _Sying said, grinning as he crouched down close to the colorful little guy. "_It's called that because it has eight legs."_

Ael quickly tried to see if all the legs were there or if this was another thing where Terran names weren't quite realistic. But it was hard to count all the legs when the octopus was practically walking across the bed of the tidal pool, the long legs pushing and pulling it ahead. He wanted to get a closer look, so he jumped into the water, but that just sent the octopus scurrying away between some rocks that it really didn't look like it should be able to get into.

"_That's okay," _Sying said. "_Maybe we can find another one later."_

Ael nodded his agreement as Jubilee sat down next to the boys on some rocks, smiling as she pulled Ael up into a hug. "_We should go get something to eat_," she said. "_It's almost dinnertime_."

"_Can we come back later?" _Ael asked.

Jubilee grinned and nodded at him. "_Of course! We live by the beach, so we can come out here all the time."_

"_Good," _Ael grinned up at her. "_I think I like fish now."_

"_You do?"_

He nodded. "_They're not too scary." _He shrugged up both shoulders. "_I want to learn their names, though."_

"_I'll see if I can find some books about fish so you can look them up, okay?"_

"_And I bet we can look them up in Dad's ship too," _Sying offered. "_He has lots of stuff in his computer."_

"_Okay," _Ael agreed, grinning between the two of them as he reattached to Jubilee and held onto her sleeve as they met up with the twins and Noh. Noh was fairly covered in sand after the girls had buried him and was grinning widely with Celeste on his shoulders.

"_Did everyone have a good time?" _he asked.

Sying nodded enthusiastically. "_Ael got to learn about all sorts of fish and stuff!"_

"_That sounds like fun," _Noh agreed.

Ael beamed and held out his hand so that Noh could see the seashell he was still holding onto. "_Can I take this home?"_

"_Of course you can," _Noh promised. "_You can put it in your room."_

Ael grinned even wider at that and quickly closed his hand around the seashell, holding onto Jubilee with the other as the group of them all headed inside to hose off and grab some dinner.

* * *

K had been only a little surprised when Logan made his decision to go, and though he went about that last day pretty much in the same manner that the rest of their week had gone with Heather and Mac, when it was over — it was _over. _

They'd gotten quite a few miles between them before Logan let out a breath. "I think we need a vacation," he said. "Away from everyone. Just us."

"Yes, _please_," James called up from the backseat of the Jeep, prompting his parents to share a look and pick a destination, still far out in the woods, still miles from civilization.

They set up camp easily enough when Logan found the spot he wanted, and the little family settled in, camping under the stars near a river, spending more time fishing — though without a rod and reel — and hunting, basically just letting their wild side out.

They were just coming in, _finally, _when K's phone finally lit up with all of the text messages and emails that they'd missed from hiding out where they had so far into the woods. There were pictures of Jubilee's new little boy settling in with the girls and Sying; there were a few 'where are you's from Kate with selfies that made her look entirely miserable. And there were a few 'we're back' messages from Lisbet.… But there was one that stuck out among the others, and it was from Scott.

It was short and sweet and too much to ignore. _How's Canada? _Was all that Scott had sent..

"Oh, Sweet, sweet brown eyes," K said in a breath before she finally answered Scott's text. _We're fine. Just fishing. Relaxing by the campfire. You know how that is. _She sent the text and then thought about it for a moment before she bit her lip and tapped her thumb on the phone.

She glanced over at Logan and then made her decision quickly, pulling up the photo of Mac and Logan arm in arm at the fire, laughing uproariously — and sent it with the caption _you have nothing to worry about. _

There was a long pause — but short enough that K knew he'd seen the picture and text pretty quick. _Looks cozy. _

K shook her head at the short message, sure that Scott was about to lose it completely. _Have to try it back home and see how that looks. _

_You already know how it looks. Seen it often enough with him and Kurt. Not that Kurt would complain if you asked. _

_I'm not talking about Kurt. _

_Right, _was the one-word response.

"Oh, no. It's only getting worse," she quietly sang to herself, going back to the photos for a moment, though she didn't realize that the picture she sent of James with a fish had Mac off to the side in it when she sent it. _You should take him when we get back. He loved fishing. _

There was an even longer pause. _Looks like he's already got a good teacher. _

_Yep, his DAD is really something else. But you know how it is. Different styles. _

_You know I'd love to take him, _Scott replied. _Anytime. _

_Great! See you soon. _She finished up by sending a picture of all three little ones grinning at the camera.


	8. Impatient Little Star

**Chapter 8: "Impatient Little Star"**

Jubilee was perfectly content snuggled up that morning, with Noh's arm around her as he slept peacefully just behind her. Ael had, thankfully, slept through the night; she was hoping that meant he was getting used to Earth time. There was some _major _jet lag going on when they changed planets.

But just because Ael hadn't woken up in the middle of the night — and subsequently wandered into the room to make sure they were still there — didn't mean Jubilee was going to get a quiet morning on top of a full night's sleep, apparently. She could hear the shuffle of little footsteps and the very quiet sound of the door closing behind whoever it was coming in, so at least one of the kids was up, anyway.

She cracked one eye open to see who it was — and then raised an eyebrow when she realized it was Sying, who usually could get himself ready in the morning.

The little boy looked around the room for a moment before he crept up to Jubilee's side of the bed, his eyes just a little bit wider than usual until he was nearly right up next to her face. "Hey… Mom?" he started out slowly. "I… um. I sort of hurt the ceiling fan."

Jubilee sat up a little taller as Noh started to wake up as well. "What did the ceiling fan do to you, sweetie?" she teased lightly, because Sying looked so totally mortified about the whole thing.

"It wasn't…" Sying shook his head. "It didn't _do _anything; I just accidentally broke it."

"Did you fall off the ceiling?" Noh asked sleepily, and Sying shook his head again.

"No." His eyes were wide as he held up one hand and seemed to be examining it carefully, as carefully as he thought over his next words. "I was just… I dreamed I was an X-Man, and when I woke up, my fingers had sparks on them!" He held up his spark-free hand as evidence. "And when I got scared my hand was gonna set my bed on fire, it got _bigger, _and then it hit the ceiling fan."

Noh was a lot more awake now, and Jubilee stared at the little boy for a moment before she simply pulled him up onto the bed and peppered him with kisses on both cheeks until he was squirming and muttering "Mo-o-o-o-m" to try and get her to stop.

And, of course, once Jubilee had stopped even for a moment, Noh had to join in the hug, grinning widely. "Don't worry about the fan," he told him. "This is _much _more wonderful news, and worth much more than a little property damage."

"You're not mad?" Sying asked, looking up at him.

"Why would we be mad?" Jubilee asked, snuggling into the little boy. "You've got plasmoids! That's _awesome_!"

"I woke up Ael, though," Sying said.

"Where is he?" Noh asked, looking over Sying's shoulder.

Sying shrugged. "I let him stay up in my bunk until he went back to sleep," he said. "He was scared because it was a big noise, but he went back to sleep okay."

Jubilee and Noh glanced at each other for a moment, both of them clearly proud of how Sying was handling being a big brother — and also sharing a wordless conversation over who should go check on Ael. Jubilee won out, and Noh started to slide out of the bed. "I'll get him," he said.

Jubilee watched Noh go for a moment before she turned her attention back to snuggling Sying. "You are one amazing little boy — do you know that?" she said as she hugged him.

He hugged her back with a little smile. "Does this mean I can shoot plasmoids all the time like you can?" he asked. "So I can be an X-Man?"

"You're still a little young to be an X-Man," Jubilee said with a laugh as she ruffled his hair.

"Mo-o-o-m." He batted her hand away from his hair and shook his head. "I'm not so little."

"That's what _you _think," she teased him gently, ignoring his protests to ruffle his hair all over again. "And we've got to teach you how to shoot plasmoids properly, anyway. No son of _mine _is going to go running around _not _knowing how to put on the most epic fireworks show ever."

Sying tipped his head to the side for a moment as he considered Jubilee. "And _then _I can be an X-Man?"

"Tell you what," Jubilee said as she booped his nose and he rubbed the spot she had touched with a little frown. "You have to be at _least _thirteen before you can be an X-Man. That's how old I was."

Sying tipped his head to the side with an almost impish grin. "Thirteen in Kree years?" he offered.

"Nice try," she said with a smirk.

"But _Mom_," he complained. "That's not fair! That's five whole extra years, and I already _got _my powers because I grow faster!"

"So just think how good you'll be at your powers when you're thirteen."

Sying frowned at Jubilee for a good long moment. "Okay…" he said slowly. "But I'm gonna work real hard."

"You shouldn't be in so much of a hurry," Noh said as he came back into the room, a still-waking-up Ael tucked into his neck and shoulders. "Your friends won't be caught up to you for a little while yet."

That got Sying to turn his way and consider him. "I guess."

"After all, Charlie is the only one thus far with powers, and from what I understand, she has no desire to be an X-Man," Noh said as he sat down beside Sying and planted a little kiss on top of his head. "And wouldn't you rather be on a team with your friends?" He looked over Sying's head at Jubilee with a sparkle of trouble in his gaze. "Krissy, for example, probably will not be teleporting for several years yet."

Sying paused to consider this. "I guess," he said, very slowly.

"And besides," Noh continued. "I can guarantee you'll want to be around for a while longer, to help us take care of your little brother."

Ael's head came up a little at the phrase 'little brother,' which was one of the few that he had learned in English so far, because he heard it so often. "_Are you talking about me?_"

Noh rubbed noses with him. "_We were just saying that you are so wonderful, and Sying is such a good big brother to take care of you."_

Ael grinned. "_I like Sying._"

"_We like him too," _Jubilee laughed, waving Noh over so that she could also be part of the snuggle and so she could kiss the top of Ael's head.

Sying watched the whole interaction for a long moment before he let out a sigh and nodded. "_O-kay. But… I still wanna show Grampa Wolvie and Scott,_" he said, speaking in Kree now so that Ael could be part of the conversation. "_So they can know that I'm gonna be an X-Man."_

"_I'm pretty sure they already knew you were going to be one, sweetheart," _Jubilee pointed out, ruffling his hair. "_Even before you got your sparkles._"

"_Right, because I got Dad's powers too."_

"_No, because you're such a good boy who loves to help people,_" Jubilee told him, pulling him up for a warm hug. "_Powers don't matter. It's what here that counts." _She touched the center of his chest and tapped it twice. "_What's inside is more important."_

Sying nodded slowly but still had to say, "_We still gotta show Grampa Wolvie and Scott."_

Jubilee laughed and shook her head. "_Alright,_" she said. "_Wolvie should be back from Canada pretty soon anyway. Why don't we go up for my birthday?"_

"_Ooh. Then we can have birthday cupcakes!" _Sying giggled and turned toward Ael. "_Birthday cupcakes are so, so yummy!"_

Ael looked between the three of them and started to grin. "_That sounds fun."_

Sying grinned and grabbed Ael by the hand. "_Come on. Let's go play with Melody and Celeste. We can practice colors again, because birthday cupcakes always have lots of colors."_

"_I _know _colors," _Ael said, sounding almost offended.

"_I know, but practice is important!" _Sying said consolingly as the two boys practically skipped off together.

* * *

It had been nearly a week since K had last touched base with Scott, though she really didn't think that he'd be keyed up. Not after he'd offered to take James on the water anyhow. When they got back to Westchester, the kids went right out to the back yard, looking for the other kids to play with and more than ready to stretch their legs after riding for that long in one spot. So Logan and K were alone when they stepped into the house, ready for a drink.

The two of them headed to the kitchen, not expecting to see anyone, since Kate was surely in hiding, though Charlie was sitting at the table, quietly reading to herself with a glass of lemonade close at hand. "Hey, Punkin'," Logan muttered her way before he reached out to ruffle her hair on passing.

Charlie grinned up at him. "Hey, Logan," she said brightly. "You had a good vacation, huh?"

"Not too shabby," he told her as he got the coffee started. "Lot of time in the woods. What have you been up to?"

"Mom bought me a new series," Charlie said, holding up the book in her hand. "And we went to LA last week so I could see Remy again."

"Sounds like you're just about back up to cruising speed," he said with a little smirk.

"Well, I like going to LA, because everyone there is still so happy about Ael every time he learns more English," Charlie explained. "It's not like _here_." She pulled a little face.

"What's wrong with here?" Logan asked, frowning slightly as he leaned on the counter to watch her.

"Well, Kate is grumpy a lot," Charlie pointed out. "And Dad's worried _all the time_ because he thinks you like Canada better than here."

"I did like the spot we found pretty well, but we didn't even put up a tent the whole time we were there," Logan told her. "Just slept under the stars and watched the northern lights."

Charlie let out a sigh and shrugged. "_Sounds_ like you like it better than here," she pointed out.

"It was fine for a little while," Logan said, finally pouring himself a cup of coffee and heading over to sit next to her. "But there are lots of spots all over like that. Not all of 'em are in Canada either."

She tipped her head to the side for a moment and then shrugged again. "Well, maybe you should tell Dad that, because he's worried _all the time_," she said again. "It's kind of annoying because he is _so _worried that it's hard to feel other people's stuff."

"Are you saying your dad is annoying? Because I might need that on film," Logan deadpanned.

She gave him a dry look worthy of her last name. "Whatever," she said, shaking her head before she went back to her book.

But that just got Logan chuckling to himself. "I'm sorry you're puttin' up with so much misery, sweetheart."

"It's worse when you're gone because Chance and Cody miss all their lessons," Charlie said, glancing up at him again. "Brothers are _horrible_."

"The worst," he agreed.

"So I'm really glad you're back," Charlie finished. She grinned crookedly. "I missed you too — and you're not super grumpy, either!"

"I guess I'm not," Logan replied. "You want me to get more grumpy? So I fit in better with everyone else?"

"_No_!" Charlie said quickly, her eyes wide. "I _like _it when you're happy. Don't undo that!"

He smirked a little more but didn't want to point out that he was teasing. Not when she sounded so genuine. "I'll see what I can do," he promised.

* * *

K, on the other hand, had taken a cup of coffee for herself and picked up one for Kate, leaving Charlie and Logan to chat. She knew Kate was miserable, and what better way to say hello than to do it with coffee?

She was almost to the top of the stairs when she ran into Scott, and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Hello, we're back," she almost sang.

Scott stopped and looked her over for a moment. "When'd you get in?" he asked.

"Just long enough to brew a pot," she told him. "Wanna come with? I'm just delivering to Kate and probably ducking out."

"So this is just a flyby?" Scott asked with a frown.

"Well … the _coffee _is," she replied slowly, matching his frown. "Unless you think she'll need something else … is she craving something weird?"

Scott shook his head lightly. "Not that I know of. Kurt's mostly been taking trips for chocolate."

"Oh, good. Then come on," K said, tipping her head toward the Wagner's door. "I'm sure I won't be long. She always thanks me for the offering and then snuggles into Kurt. At which point I am rendered useless."

"It'll only last another few weeks," Scott said with the beginnings of a smirk.

"Yeah, then she'll defer to tiny elfling, and I'm perfectly fine with that," K replied.

"Then the whole mansion will be wrapped around the tiny elfling, and you know it," Scott said.

"Exactly," she agreed.

Scott shook his head at her as they headed to the Wagners' suite — though K wasn't off in her estimation of how this would go down in the least. There was a warm 'welcome back' hug, thanks for the coffee… and then Kate hid back in the covers.

"You would think that she'd have the bamfs waiting on her hand and foot by now," K said to Scott once they were back into the hall. She drew in a deep breath and tried for a smile. "So. hello."

"Welcome back," Scott said with a nod. "How was Canada?"

"Like it always is, I suppose," she said, shrugging. "Heather's okay. You know."

"She is," Scott had to agree. "Looked like you were having fun — the whole family, I mean."

"Well, we do try," she agreed. "But it was a lot more fun once we ditched the Hudsons in favor of the woods."

"Yeah?" Scott would have looked less interested if his eyes didn't give it away. "How'd they take it, anyway?"

"Take what?" K asked. "Us going on our own way?"

"Well, you know, I know they've been asking for a visit for a while, so if you cut it short…"

"Oh, that … was interesting," K told him with her nose scrunched up.

"How so?"

"Well, we had a campfire, and the guys got to the booze, as they do from time to time. It all seemed fine when I headed in, but when they came in, I was informed we were leaving the next day."

"Oh." Scott nodded. "Well. So, when do you think James would like to go fly fishing?"

"I'm reasonably sure all you have to do is call his name," K told him with a little laugh. "He's outside with the others, stretching his legs."

At that, Scott broke into an honest grin as they headed down the stairs together. "Oh, hey, I should probably warn you: the kids have been _dying _to go riding again. Not just mine. So… you might get mobbed."

"Oh? Who wants a trail ride?" K asked.

"Kari wants to go trail riding," Scott told her. "Chance wants to learn more trick moves, and Cody wants to do both. It changes based on their moods, honestly."

"Then I think…. I need to talk to you about renting a backhoe for a weekend," K said, nodding. "I have thoughts."

"What do you need it for?" Scott asked.

"I think it's time we made a horseback obstacle course," K said. "We can use it competitively. Should be fun."

"I'm sure the older students would get a kick out of it," Scott said with a little smirk.

"I'm not going to do it unless you'll race it too," K told him.

Scott raised both eyebrows at her. "I'm really not the best teacher to model horseback, and you know it."

"I didn't say I wanted you to teach it," K clarified. "I want you to try it. For _fun._"

"So when do you need the backhoe?"

"Any time, really," she replied easily. "We'll have to go find a spot to put the course …"

"Just tell me when," Scott said as they hit the kitchen, where Charlie was reading and Logan was well into his coffee and a newspaper.

"Hey Slim," Logan muttered, not quite looking up at him.

"Welcome back," Scott said as he made his way over to Charlie to sit next to her, and she switched the way she was sitting so she could lean back on him instead of against the window.

"We miss anything earth shattering?" Logan asked, still scanning through the paper.

"Nothing really," Scott said. "I'm sure Charlie told you she's back on schedule with her training, but that's the biggest news."

"She did," Logan said. "And also that brothers are awful, but that's something else entirely."

"That's common knowledge," Scott said with a smirk.

Logan chuckled under his breath and nodded his head before he folded up the paper and finally looked up at him. "Can't do much about 'em though," he said before he took a moment to watch Charlie still buried in her book. "I'm gonna have to take a little time this fall to head back. Shouldn't be anything to concern anyone with, though."

"That's the first I'm hearing about it," Scott said with a frown as Charlie's head came up and she seemed to be paying more attention to the conversation going on beside her.

"I had to think about it," Logan told him.

"About what, exactly?" Scott asked, the frown deepening.

"I'm gonna head up to their school for a day or two," Logan told him.

"What for?" Scott asked. "I was under the impression we were coordinating guest lectures through the school heads."

"I'm not lecturing," Logan told him, shaking his head. "It's … more, well... I don't know what to call it." He looked like he was irritated just trying to come up with a tag to put on it. "It's not a big deal. I just didn't want Mac to get the chance to wind you up."

"Right, because going around me to ask you to do some unspecified thing is definitely not something I'd care to know about," Scott said dryly.

Logan was already shaking his head. "He's got Snowbird coming in out of the woods," Logan tried to explain. "But it's not to talk to the kids, or anything like that. Not the way he pitched it to me, anyhow."

"Then what…" Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is insane. Why can't he just call down and ask if our schedule is open for… whatever this is? Or give details? Because right now, all it sounds like to me is that he's gathering the group for no reason he's telling _you_."

"Which is why I'm bringing K with me," Logan said.

"How'd he even get Snowbird out there?" Scott asked, shaking his head. "If it's not about the school?"

"If I had to guess, he probably had Walter talk her into it," Logan said flatly.

Scott stopped short and shot him a dry look. "Seriously, Logan."

"I don't know," he answered, shrugging openly. "I was a little drunk when he brought it up."

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose again with a muttered, "Of course."

"Maybe you can go on a weekend?" Charlie offered, looking between the two men. "So Mom and Dad don't have to find substitutes. 'Cause Mom hates that. Then you can go see your friends still _and _not have to break up riding classes?"

"It's just gonna be a day, maybe two," Logan said, smirking at the little girl. "I'll have someone lined up with plenty of time. Just didn't want to blindside anyone when we got down to it."

Charlie gave him a little look over the top of her book. "Right," she said, then pretended to go back to what she was reading.

"Well, bring a comm, and see if you can get details on what the heck Mac _wants,_" Scott said, shaking his head. "He wouldn't ask you to come up for a coffee break with the old team."

"That's the plan," Logan agreed as the kids rushed in, laughing and sweaty from the incredibly competitive game of tag they had going on outside.

James made a beeline right for Scott and practically threw himself at him. "I caught a _salmon,_" James told him. "With my bare hands!"

Scott had to take a second to recover from the half-tackle and the switch, but then he grinned at James and picked him up to eye level. "How big was it?" he asked.

James was grinning as he held his hands out to show how big the fish had been. "We cooked it over a fire too!"

"I bet it was delicious," Scott said. "Did you share with your sisters?"

"Yep," he said, nodding. "We all had some. It was that big."

"Well, you're growing so big, I thought maybe you ate it all," Scott teased. "Are you sure you didn't grow any while you were gone? You look taller."

James shook his head. "I haven't been gone that long."

Scott tipped his head sideways. "I don't know ... a lot can happen in a couple weeks or so," he said with a thoughtful look. He grinned. "I think you might be taller than Cody now," he had to tease, just because he knew James wouldn't agree with him.

James shook his head, his eyes closed as he leaned closer to him. "You're being ridiculous. No. When are we going to go fishing?"

"Whenever you want, bud," Scott said.

James just looked at him, his eyebrows raised for a moment before he tipped his head toward him. "I'll go get the poles."

Scott laughed and trapped him in a hug so he couldn't jump down to do that. "Let's wait until next weekend, alright? You just got back, and Jubilee and Noh and their family will want to see you."

James squirmed, trying to get loose. "Come _on_; that's no fun."

Scott grinned. "We can still play in the meantime," he promised, pinning the little guy a little tighter until he was almost tucked under his arm as he headed for the door. "We could… go swimming…"

James just fought him harder, trying to get Scott to drop him, though he was laughing all the way. "You don't _like _to go swimming with me, though," he said. "You can't make splashes as big as I do."

"Maybe you can show me how," Scott said, pulling and grinning as he worked to keep James pinned.

"You won't _listen to me, though._"

Scott shook his head. "You're delusional."

"You _never listen_," James laughed.

"To what? You splashing? I think I got that much," Scott pointed out. "It's not hard to listen to."

But before they could get all the way to the pool, they were met by Jubilee and Noh coming in with their kids, as Ael looked excited for a second when he saw where they were headed. "Water?" he asked, forming the word carefully with bright eyes.

"Sounds like we need to organize something for the rest of the kids at the pool," Scott said as he finally let James break free — partly because he wanted to take the time to say hi to Jubilee and Noh anyway.

"He's fallen in love with the beach," Noh said with a warm smile. "And fish."

Ael nodded. "Like fish."

"And seashells," Melody added helpfully before running up to James to wrap him in a hug as they headed up the lawn toward the school.

"So he's adjusting well?" Scott asked Jubilee as they walked.

She nodded. "He had a bit of a scare earlier this week," she admitted. "He's not too fond of loud noises — which is part of why we came up."

"I thought this was just a birthday visit so you had an excuse to eat Annie's cooking," Scott teased.

"Well, that too," Jubilee said with a little nod, though she inclined her head toward Sying. "Actually, Sying wanted to talk to you."

"Oh? What about?" Scott asked, stopping to turn to face Sying properly.

Sying broke into a huge, beaming smile. "I wanted to tell you about my _powers_," he said, bouncing slightly. "I got some from Mom, too!"

Scott looked toward Jubilee, who nodded, and then back to the little boy. "That's amazing!" he said, honestly excited for the little guy. "Can you tell me about it?"

"I wanna tell _everyone_," Sying explained, bouncing again.

"Fair enough," Scott said, shaking his head as they let Sying lead the way — not quite holding back the super speed as much as he thought he was and looking over his shoulder waiting for the others to catch up the whole time.

Once they had caught up with the others, most of the kids were gathering because they had seen the _Marvel _and knew that meant there would be birthday cupcakes. And Charlie waved at Sying when she saw him too. "What's got you so excited?" she called out.

"I got _plasmoids_!" he burst out, since Logan and Scott were both in the same room so he could say as much now.

"Since when?" Logan teased with a little smirk on his face.

"Since a couple days ago!" he said happily. "I broke the ceiling fan, but Mom and Dad said it's alright while I'm still learning."

"Isn't he a bit… young?" Annie asked Jubilee, trying to keep her voice down so as not to rain on Sying's parade.

"For someone who grows as fast as he does?" Jubilee pointed out. "I don't know. It's not like there's a how-to on alien-mutant kids."

"Early bloomer," K chuckled.

Sying looked between the three women and scrunched up his nose. "I'm not _that _little." He turned back to face Logan. "And Mom said I could be an X-Man once I'm thirteen," he added, in a tone that wasn't anything like a question — this was just how it was going to be.

"We'll see," Logan countered. "That's more Scott's call than it is Jubes'."

"You can try out for the team when you're old enough," Scott said. "But you might decide to do something else by then, so we'll just have to see what happens then."

Sying rolled his eyes. "That's not what I _said_. I'm gonna practice my powers for five whole years, so—" He looked between the two of them, hands on his hips. "—I _got _this. I've had my other powers my _whole life_, you know. That's a long time."

"I didn't say you couldn't be an X-Man," Scott said. "I said you could try out. Everybody has to do that if they want to be on the team."

Sying rolled his eyes even harder at that. "Yeah, but you already _know _my powers," he pointed out.

"And being an X-Man is about more than having powers," Scott replied.

"I know _that_," Sying said, shaking his head. "That's why I said I'm gonna be practicing! Duh."

"That's not all of it either," Scott said patiently. "Anyone on the team learns how to fight without powers, and you have to pass a self-defense class." He glanced up at Logan. "I'm sure you won't hate the teacher, though," he added with a little smirk.

Sying looked up at Logan with wide, expectant eyes. "Okay. When's the class?"

"High school," Logan answered.

"Okay, but when's that for me, because I'm taking classes with my dad…"

"We'll see," Logan replied.

"It's gotta be before I'm thirteen so I can be an X-Man by then."

"We'll see."

Sying shook his head, and for the first time, the gathered adults got to see a bit of color gathering at his fingers. "That's not an answer!"

"It's the only one I can give you, little Jubes," Logan told him. "Just like your mother."

Sying's little plasmoids got bigger. "Well, if I _am, _then that means I can be on the team when _she _was, so _there_."

"You don't want to repeat her start to the team," Logan said, shaking his head. "She _thought _she was on the team for years before she actually was."

Jubilee gave him a little glare for that one. "Only because _some _people couldn't see how awesome I am," she said, redirecting the glare to Scott halfway through.

Scott held up both hands. "This isn't about age," he said.

Jubilee let out a completely offended noise. "Oh _sure. Now_ it's not about age."

"Is she jockeying to get kicked off the team?" K asked Scott from just behind him.

"No, she's proving Logan's point on how similar she and Sying are," Scott said without missing a beat.

Jubilee glared at him as Sying turned toward Logan, and one little yellow plasmoid made a spectacular, tiny explosion at his fingertip when he raised an accusing finger. "You teach _Chance _and _your kids_."

"Because they're here. But they're not learning what the big kids are," Logan said calmly. "Yet."

"Then I want to come here," Sying decided.

"And leave your little brother all alone?" K asked with a frown. "Just because you're impatient?"

Sying spun to face her with a totally hurt expression. "_No_."

She ran her hand over his hair and cupped his cheek. "You have plenty of time to learn all of that stuff. Enjoy being little while you can. Besides, even if you waited to start learning until you were twelve, you'd learn everything a lot faster than most kids."

Sying stuck out his lower lip the slightest bit and bounced from one foot to the other, obviously caught. "Well…" he said slowly. "Maybe… maybe I can do like Charlie does? And come up sometimes for lessons?"

"I'm sure we can do that," Logan agreed, but then he paused and glanced up at Noh. "But your lessons will be with a dampener on. You'll need to learn how to do all of this without your abilities to help you. That is the whole point, after all."

Noh raised an eyebrow but didn't argue — but Sying looked gobsmacked. "But I already _know _how to not run as fast and how to hit soft and all that!"

"It's not a matter of knowing how not to do those things; it's a matter of knowing how to work if you _can't _run fast or hit hard."

"It's a good idea," Noh said, getting Sying to pause. "If you want to be an X-Man, you're going to face dampeners and power inhibitors at some point. You can't join the team unless you know what you're up against."

"And _then _I can take the class I gotta take to be an X-Man?" Sying asked finally.

Logan leaned closer to him and let his voice drop low. "We'll see."

Sying turned around to face him. "You're not funny, Grampa Wolvie."

"Not tryin' to be," Logan replied.

"Besides," Jubilee broke in, "we still have to get the hang of the plasmoids so you don't accidentally punish the ceiling fan anymore."

"And you can hang out with me," Charlie offered.

"And Jubes was already puttin' on fireworks shows when she showed up without any training," Logan added. "You have a way to go."

Sying let out all his breath. "I _hate _waiting."

"In the meantime," Annie said before Sying could further prove to Logan that he was too young to start anything yet, "there _is _a birthday we can celebrate." She grinned over at Sying. "And the Wagners aren't down yet. Why don't you go tell them that it's time for cupcakes?"

Sying paused, and then a slow grin began to spread over his face before he nodded and zipped off.

"You are _not _subtle," Jubilee said, shaking her head at Annie.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Annie defended. "And it worked anyhow. So …"

"Yeah, but he _really _likes Krissy, Mom," Charlie said from her little corner.

"I know that," Annie said, sounding almost scandalized. "But he hasn't seen her in a little while, so what's wrong with that?"

"She _doesn't _like him," Charlie said. "I mean… not like _that_. 'Cause she's little."

"Then there's nothing to worry about, is there?" Jubilee said. "Because they're little."

Almost on cue, a few more kids started to trickle in for cupcakes — including Chance and Elin, who were grinning and chatting easily back and forth until they sat down and Chance very quietly and politely asked Elin if he could hold her hand while they were waiting for cupcakes.

"Okay," Elin said, smiling at him as she offered her hand.

"So little," Jubilee whispered to Annie and K with a little smirk.

"And so sweet," K agreed.

"Polite, even," Annie agreed with a widening grin. "And that's how you come a-courtin'," she added, just because she couldn't help it as she let out a little laugh and K burst into laughter beside her.

"Oh, and there's the grump," Charlie muttered under her breath just loud enough that she knew only those with enhanced hearing would get it. "It was nice while it lasted."

K glanced over at Charlie and leaned in to get Annie in on the game, since, judging by the expression on Scott's face, she wasn't entirely sure if it was him or Logan being grumpy. "Let's kiss the stuffing out of them. That should stop the grump for Charlie."

Annie laughed and nodded her agreement. "That's a plan I can follow easily enough," she whispered back.

The approach was entirely different in both cases, though: where Annie simply slid up to Scott and hooked him around the neck to pull him down to kiss her, K took a few steps and flat out tackled Logan to the floor.

"Oh, did we miss the cupcake kisses already?" Kari asked — signalling that the Wagners and Sying had made their arrival.

"No," Elin called out. "They've just been like that."

"Well, good, because I like cupcakes," Kari said, climbing up to sit on the other side of Elin, close by where James and Sadie were sitting.

"And kisses," Kaleb said matter-of-factly, though it wasn't clear who he was directing his cupcake kisses to that day.

"Well, Jubilee gets the first cupcake," Annie told the kids, though she was sure to kiss Scott one more time before she went to where the sweets were to start doling them out.

"Ael doesn't _know _about cupcakes," Melody sang out as she pulled on Annie's sleeve. "He's never had one."

"Well, what's his favorite color?" Annie asked.

Melody looked toward Ael, and the little boy very shyly whispered, "Blue," in clearly practiced English. "I like blue."

"I like blue too," Sadie told him. "_Some of my favorite people are blue_," she finished in Kree.

Ael stared at her for a moment before he started to smile. "I blue."

"A pretty blue, too," she agreed.

"Not fuzzy though," Kaleb said. "Most blue people are fuzzy."

"_We have enough fuzzy blues,_" Sadie said with a giggle.

"_There's lots of blues on Hala,_" Ael said, starting to warm up to the group a little more before he glanced up at Annie when she set down a blue-icing cupcake in front of him. "Thanks!"

"You're very welcome," Annie said warmly, setting down another blue cupcake by Sadie.

"Thank you, Miss Annie," Sadie sang with a bright smile.

"And you're very welcome too, Sadie," Annie said, grinning. "You're so very polite."

"So are you!" she replied, kicking her feet gently as they hung over her chair.

"Well, I like pink," Kari said — a split second before Annie had a pink cupcake in front of her, since she already knew this. "_Danke_!" She held it up. "I used to be pink like this, Ael."

Ael frowned her way until Celeste relayed more or less that she'd said, and he frowned deeper. "_Pink like… Noh_?"

"_No, like her cupcake," _Celeste said patiently.

"_But she's blue now."_

"_Yeah, someone used magic on her," _Celeste said.

Ael scrunched up his whole face. "O...kay," he said, very slowly, which had become his response to anything that he didn't understand that he didn't think he _would _understand.

"And now you're a _very _pretty blue," James told Kari with a smile.

Kari grinned at him as she took a bite out of her cupcake and leaned over to give James a pink-frosting kiss.

"_And that_," Melody said with a little giggle, "_is a cupcake kiss_."

"_Do you have to do that if you want to eat the cupcake?" _Ael asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Melody laughed and shook her head. "_No._"

"_It's just for fun," _Celeste assured him.

"_Kari's big sister doesn't do cupcake kisses," _Melody added, looking toward where Krissy was simply eating her purple cupcake and blissfully not sharing with anyone.

"_And you don't need a cupcake for a kiss either,_" Sadie told him with a little smirk. "_Just if you're being silly_."

"Okay." Ael considered the cupcake in front of him for a moment before he tentatively took a bite, and it got all over his face as his eyes went wide and he looked up at the other kids. "I like it!" he declared happily. "I like it!"

Sadie smiled at him then fell apart laughing when she watched her brother take a bite of his red cupcake just to get Kari back with a bright red kiss. "_My brother is silly._"

"_So is mine,_" Ael said with a smile.

Sadie giggled then tipped her head. "_How about a kiss?"_

Ael matched her movement, also tipping his head. "_Okay_," he said. That was all the prompting Sadie needed, apparently, before she leaned forward and stole a quick kiss.

"Well, now I feel as though he's been officially inducted into the family," Noh whispered to K with a small smirk.

"She's a terrible flirt," K said. "Must get it from her father."

"Oh yeah, _that's _where she gets it from," Jubilee said, grinning widely as she nodded along.

"Hey now," K said, bumping Jubilee with her elbow. "He's the one with the rep. Not me."

"And yet I'm pretty darn sure those are your genes _too_," Jubilee insisted.

"Well the hair, sure," K argued.

"_Do you have cupcakes all the time?" _Ael asked, clearly enjoying his icing.

"_We have them a lot," _Elin replied. "_But Miss Annie always has cookies around._"

"_I have cookies at home," _Ael said, grinning. "_Jubilee has candy and cookies everywhere." _

Sadie looked over toward her sister and let her voice drop to a whisper. "_My mom will make peach cobbler later._"

"What… what is that?" Ael asked haltingly.

"You'll see," Sadie promised. "It's good."

"_Like cupcakes?"_

"_Sweet like cupcakes, but with fruits._"

"Okay." He grinned up at Sadie and took another bite of cupcake. "_And then we can go swimming. I like water. And fish."_

"_We just got back from going fishing,_" Sadie said. "_I like them too. They're tasty." _

Ael's eyes went wide. "_No!_" He shook his head vehemently. "_They're pretty and there's lots of them and they're for looking!" _

Sadie frowned a little bit and shook her head. "_Not all of them are pretty. The really colorful ones don't taste good. But the silver ones do taste good." _

"_I like all of them. I like learning about them,_" Ael said. "_I got to see a big crab yesterday! He wasn't a fish, but he's cool too."_

"_Crabs are very cool," _she agreed.

"_Jubilee won't let me go in the big ocean yet, but Sying says there are really, _really _big fish there." _

Sadie nodded her head. "_Very very big ones, but I like the smaller ones._"

"_I like small ones too. But they're not for touching." _

"_Will you be here tomorrow?" _

"_Yes. My Jubilee and Noh said we will be here for a while." _

"_Good! My Dad is going to cook tomorrow night,_" Sadie told him with a grin.

"_Will I like it?" _

"_I hope so,_" she told him. "_No one has said it's bad yet, but he always makes something wild that he caught himself._ _But we caught a lot of fish when we were in Canada, so I don't know if it'll be fish or not." _

"_I don't _want _to eat fish." _

"_You might like it …"_

"_I like fish in water." _

"_We eat a lot of fish," _Sadie told him. "_Especially when we travel._"

"_Why? Are fish easy to travel with?" _

"_No, but lots of places have them._"

"_Yeah, Noh says this planet is made of lots of water." _

"_And has lots and lots of fish,_" she finished.

He grinned at her and then leaned over to give her a little kiss on the cheek, deciding that was easier to deal with than figuring out why people would eat _fish_.


	9. I Hate You So Much Wolverine: Next Gen

**Chapter 9: "I Hate You So Much Wolverine: The Next Generation"**

The next day, as promised, Logan was making dinner — and the little Kree kids were having a blast playing out by the lake while they waited for the food to be done.

Jubilee stayed close by Ael while he was still a beginner at swimming, while some of the older kids swam around a bit. Sying was swimming laps around Krissy and Chance, right up until Chance caught him by the foot and told him to _quit showing off_ — which of course, prompted Krissy to burst into laughter.

Even Kate was enjoying herself, having a slightly better day than usual and lying out on a chair watching the kids laughing and playing together.

As usual, Logan's approach seemed hands-off, and he was spending a lot of time drinking and occasionally looking in on what he had on the grill when he'd grab another beer — and one for Kurt, of course. He'd just chucked another one at the Elf and taken a seat when Kate spoke up.

"You are _killing _me with that, you know that, right?" Kate said, shaking her head.

"What am I killing you with now?" Logan asked.

"It smells _amazing_, and that's not fair, and you know it," Kate said, resting her hand on her stomach.

Logan shook his head and took a good slug off of his beer. "Yeah? What do you smell that you think is killing you?"

"Oh, you know, the fish that I can't eat. Duh."

"I'm not havin' fish tonight either," he told her. "I've been eating fish for nearly a month straight."

"Then… what did you bring me?"

"Obviously not fish," he replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Why no fish?" Kaleb asked curiously, coming over to investigate what his dad and Logan were up to.

"Fish for just about everyone," Logan told him. "But I've had too much of it lately. And your mom can't have any until the baby's here."

"Does the baby not like fish?"

"The fish just makes me sick, sweetheart," Kate explained as best she could. "And the baby doesn't like it either."

"So let's hope you like the other stuff then," Logan said quietly. "I'd hate to think I got too fancy on ya."

"You know how I grew up. Trust me: no such thing as too fancy comparatively."

"How does venison tenderloin with a cherry glaze sound?" Logan asked.

Kate positively _beamed _at him. "Sounds perfect to me."

"Then consider yourself spoiled," he told her.

"Papa says she's gotta be spoiled because she's doing lots of work," Kaleb said, grinning up at Kurt, who ruffled his hair.

"That's right, _schatzi_."

It wasn't much longer before everything was cooked and ready to go, and Jubilee was more than happy to help set up the table, cheerfully setting one of the salmon filets near Ael and the kids so they wouldn't miss out on the cedar planked salmon.

"_What's this?" _Ael asked, as he always did whenever there was something new to try.

"Cedar planked salmon," Elin told him before she started listing off the other dishes as well, pointing to each in turn, even as she pulled a little face at the mushrooms that were all cooked up.

Ael's eyes widened, and he pushed back from the table. "No!' he said, shaking his head vehemently. "No. No fish. No."

"_We have _venison _too,_" Elin told him. "_With cherries._"

"_Venison… what's that?" _he asked, still sitting as far back away from the fish as he could.

"_It's from a deer,_" she told him. "_It's meat_."

Ael chewed on his lower lip as he thought it over. "Okay," he said slowly.

Elin shook her head as she turned toward her mother. "Ael doesn't want to try the fish. He likes them too much to eat them."

K simply nodded and whipped up a little plate for him with the venison, since that wasn't laid out on the table. When she set it down in front of him, she ruffled his hair.

Ael glanced up at her. "Thanks, Grammy K," he said, sounding relieved.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," she told him, then gave him a little kiss on the forehead.

"He likes learning about lots of fish and reading about them," Sying said. "Dad got him a book and he reads it in Kree instead of English to him."

"Well, once he gets bigger, we'll just have to take him scuba diving," K decided.

Sying grinned. "That's a good idea. Then he can meet fish in person."

"Are you alright with the salmon, sparkling maple leaf?" K asked Sying. "Or do you feel a kinship I should know about?"

Sying giggled. "I can eat the salmon."

K brought Kate hers next. "You aren't one of those overly attached to Bambi are you? Because I have some seriously bad news if you are," K told her before she set the venison down.

"Oh please. Stop teasing the toddler who doesn't even know you're teasing him," Kate said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not teasing _him._ He's fine; he's too little to know better. I'm just watching out for your well-being."

Kate rolled her eyes at that and then took a good, solid bite. "Just you wait until I'm not a balloon anymore."

"What are you going to do to me?" K asked, joining her with her own plate.

"I don't know yet, but I'll think of something," Kate said. "Or maybe just pour _all _of my glitter all over you."

"Do you hate me? Is that what it is?" K asked, her chin in her hand.

"Oh, definitely," Kate said, nodding seriously and with a little smirk. "That's why I keep inviting you to all my parties and asking you to hang out with me…"

"So you can pour all of your glitter on me, if I'm to follow your meaning," K said, shaking her head slowly. "For hateful reasons."

"Yes, K. That's exactly what I said. Well done — you get an A in communication and twisting meanings. Now shut up and eat with me."

K pushed a few cherries around her plate and made a face. "I don't know; it could be a trap."

In response, Kate reached over and grabbed one of the cherries to pop in her mouth. "Paranoid," she said, grinning around the bite before she grabbed another one from K's plate. "More for me."

"Yeah, but you're already pregnant," K laughed.

"Mama says that's because she and Papa have anniversary traditions," Krissy supplied helpfully. "You don't get babies from _cherries_."

"They so, so do," K agreed. "But I'm looking for sneaky glitter hiding spots."

Krissy leaned forward with a little twinkle in her eye. "There's no such thing as glitter. You get baby brothers from _kissing, _duh."

"Oh no!" K gasped, leaning toward her. "There has been a lot of kissing going on all over the place. With everyone."

"Well, maybe you'll get a baby too," Krissy said. She grinned. "_I _don't kiss anybody, so I'm not glittery."

"Is it because you're afraid to get a baby too?" K asked, ready and willing to pop that balloon if that's what Kurt was hoping would hold the little elfling back from kisses.

Krissy shook her head. "I'm too little for babies," she said. "I just don't like kissing." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Sam kissed me at Gerry's pool party, and I didn't like it."

K dropped her volume to match Krissy's. "That's because you weren't kissing the right boy."

"No, I think I just don't like kissing," Krissy said with a little shrug.

"Try a few cuter boys before you decide," K whispered. "Or … cute girls. Whatever works."

Krissy wrinkled up her nose and pulled a face. "I don't _like _kissing," she insisted. "I like swords and archery."

"I know. I like horses and motorcycles and guns and explosions — and kissing Logan," K told her. "But not anyone else."

"You kiss me on the head all the time," Krissy pointed out.

"That's because you're little and you need them to grow better," K told her.

"Papa says that kisses are just for showing you love somebody."

"Yes. And I love you enough to hope that you grow taller."

"Taller than you?" she giggled.

"Oh, I hope so," K told her, smiling at her. "I like being the shortest one."

By that time, Logan had finally found his seat next to K, and the two of them were half-leaning into each other for most of the meal, quietly discussing something so that only the two of them could hear.

It didn't take long for the kids to get done with their food, and soon enough, they were back to playing down by the lake, a lot of the earlier bad feelings about the fish gone now that Ael had something else to eat and they were playing in the water again.

"He's usually good at trying new things," Jubilee said.

"He's going to have a hell of a time if we ever take him to Japan," Logan commented, leaning back and pulling K with him.

"That would be cruel," Jubilee said, shaking her head.

"Not necessarily," Logan argued.

"Considering how he reacted to something as simple as salmon?" Noh pointed out.

"And I'm sure that I won't be able to find a noodle shop in the whole country," Logan deadpanned.

Jubilee rolled her eyes at him and punched him in the shoulder. "Whatever. Just don't try to get him to eat sushi, whatever you do. His poor little heart would break into a million pieces."

"Did I make you?" he challenged.

"I didn't say _make_," Jubilee said.

"I seem to remember offerin' you something reasonable and then ending up buying you a sack of burgers more often than not," Logan countered.

Jubilee shrugged, and Noh chuckled. "He should really see the whole of the planet," he said. "He picks things up so quickly. I'm sure he could learn so much on a trip."

"Yeah, let's try not to make our kids _too _much like me, huh?" Jubilee said. "Following my footsteps… all that."

"Is that really so bad?" Noh asked gently. "That they want to be so much like you? You are a warrior and an X-Man and a beautiful, kind-hearted romantic. What better aspirations can they have?"

There was just a beat of silence before Logan totally fell apart laughing.

Noh frowned at both of them. "I was not joking," he said. But that only had Logan laughing harder.

"Ignore them," Jubilee said, pulling a face.

"Oh, you gotta tell that one to Scott," Logan said between breaths as he tried to get it under control. "He'll love it."

Jubilee stuck her tongue out at him again as Noh slowly shook his head. "I still don't think I understand," he said.

"It really doesn't matter," Jubilee said, waving them off. "You were saying nice things about me. Let's just start there and keep going."

* * *

Sying was full of excitement that weekend after his parents and grandparents had worked out a schedule for him to start coming once a week to take his self-defense lessons. He was pretty sure that he was absolutely going to show his Grampa Wolvie that he didn't _need _the lessons and that he was ready to _go_, no matter what he said.

He was a little bit surprised to see he wasn't the only kid there. In fact, every one of his friends his age were there — even Charlie — and so were some of the younger kids like Kari and Cody and even Sadie.

"I thought you didn't want to be an X-Man," Sying said with a frown Charlie's way.

She shrugged lightly. "Dad said I should go so I know how to fight." She paused and looked toward Scott, who was crouched down by Cody in deep conversation of some kind. "In case someone ever tries to grab me again."

Sying frowned but nodded his understanding all the same. "I guess that makes sense," he said slowly before he made his way over to Logan with more of a smile than before.

"Ready to get back into it?" Logan asked as he helped Elin and Sadie stretch out.

"Back?" Sying wrinkled his nose. "I've been working with Dad. It's not like I _stopped _working on stuff when I went to LA."

"Yeah," Logan laughed. "But this isn't the same. And your dad doesn't fight like any of the things I use. And it's pretty worthless in this room anyhow."

Sying drew himself up and stuck out his chin. "It's not worthless — I can fight a lot of guys all at once if I want to!"

"So can I, without any abilities working," Logan told him. "You're not ready for that. Why don't you pair up with Krissy and she'll take it easy on you while get you up to par."

Sying sniffed a bit. "I'll take it easy on _her_," he said.

"We'll see," Logan said with a smile, shaking his head and already entirely amused.

The little boy wrinkled his nose at Logan and turned on his heel, clearly meaning to run over to his assigned sparring partner, but he'd only taken about three steps before he stopped cold, and looked down at his feet in alarm. "Dad!" he shouted, totally concerned.

"What's the matter?" Noh asked, quickly breaking off his conversation with a very excited little Cody and Scott to stride over to his little boy. "Are you alright?"

"Dad, my feet feel funny," Sying said, still sounding incredibly upset. "They don't move like I want them to."

Noh tipped his head to the side as he studied Sying for a moment before he glanced up at Logan. "Dampener?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, figured we'd keep the playing field level for everyone," Logan said. "And he's young enough that it's second nature to rely on the speed and everything. Not gonna help him later."

"No," Noh agreed slowly. "And we've been working on honing those powers, not working at this speed." He reached out and ruffled Sying's hair. "No one in the room has powers, Sying. You won't be faster or stronger than anyone in here."

"_Why_?" Sying asked, wide-eyed. "I don't like it. It feels … It's harder to run, like my feet are tired."

"That's the same speed everyone else has to move, kiddo," Logan told him as he moved on to help James get ready.

Sying wrinkled his nose. "I don't like it," he repeated.

"Remember how we told you that you needed to learn to fight without your powers?" Scott said as he made his way over. "This is part of that. We come across dampeners and inhibitors all the time; if you can't fight without your powers, you'd be useless in those situations."

"I know it's strange when you've never had your powers taken away," Noh said gently. "Why don't you stretch and warm up with Krissy while you get used to it?"

Sying glared at both of them but practically stalked over to Krissy anyway, though considering who his sparring partner was, he wasn't going to complain to _her_. So that was something.

Noh shook his head with a rueful little smile. "We've been so focused on making sure he knows how to control his strength and speed, this hasn't even crossed my mind," he admitted. "Not when we were working on his instincts."

"Understandable," Logan told him. "But this is kind of my specialty — making everyone miserable in combat class."

"I do feel bad," Noh admitted. "Everyone here started out powerless and then acquired them — he has no frame of reference." He grinned Logan's way. "He'll hate this; I'm sorry in advance."

Logan smirked up at him with a wicked twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, I know. Don't apologize."

"But he's had nothing but unconditional love and affection for you until now," Noh said, the smile widening.

"Everyone gets the wakeup call sooner or later," Logan replied before he turned back to the kids and all of them simply settled down as class started.

As soon as they'd paired off with their sticks, they started to work, all of them going slow to begin with and picking up speed as their partners allowed. It was clear that Elin and James were trying to match Scott and Logan for speed. Logan was working with Scott on his right at a quick clip and had Kari giggling on his left, trying to go fast, but she was hitting much harder than the other kids were. The others were all fairly well-matched — except, of course, for Krissy and Sying.

"I want a different partner!" Krissy finally called out, clearly frustrated.

Logan and Scott stopped and turned her way. "What's the problem, kiddo?" Logan asked.

"I wanna go _fast_," she pouted, and Sying looked terribly insulted, his jaw dropped as he couldn't even _begin _to come up with a response to an insult like that. "He's so _slow_."

Logan nodded and called out for Kari to pair up with Krissy. "Be nice," Logan told Kari.

Kari nodded happily. "I won't hurt anybody," she promised.

Now temporarily partnerless, Sying stared as the two sisters started up with the sticks, getting into a much better rhythm than he'd had with Krissy, and then he sat down on the floor with his hands in fists. "I'm not _slow_," he muttered.

"I know that," Logan told him before he waved him over. "You can join us or you can work with your dad."

Sying glanced up at Logan and grumpily climbed to his feet. "I can work with you," he said.

"Same motion," Logan told him. "Don't try to go slow. I'll keep up just _fine _with whatever you can do."

Sying narrowed his eyes slightly, more in concentration than anything else, but looked like he was working hard at the motions, watching his own arms and the sticks as much as Logan's like he was working out in his head how to pour on the speed when it was so _hard _to go fast.

"Hit harder," Logan said, though Sying wasn't sure if the direction was meant for him or Scott.

"I _am _hitting hard," Sying grumbled.

"Fine. Hit _harder_," Logan repeated.

"Try hitting as hard as you can," Scott said. "Like you're trying to break the sticks in half."

Sying let out a noise of frustration. "That's a bad idea."

"No it's not," Logan said before he made a quick hard move that knocked one stick out of Sying's hand. "Bring it."

Sying seemed to get even more frustrated, especially because he couldn't just zip over to go get the stick. But he did start to hit a little harder — the frustration was clearly helping him with that much at least.

"You can hit harder than that," Logan said low. "Come on — get mad about it."

"I _am _hitting harder!" Sying almost hissed out.

"Kari was hitting harder before I sent her over to play with Krissy. I know you can do better than that."

Sying narrowed his eyes and let out a frustrated breath, but it was a few more hits with Logan looking like it was no problem keeping up — not even looking at him and keeping track of Scott instead — that finally made him lose his temper entirely and take a mean swing. It was only as strong as a normal person could hit, but it did finally have power to it.

"There we go," Logan said, finally turning his way. "Keep that up. And faster."

Sying bared his teeth at Logan and kept up the hard swings, clearly mad now. "I hate this class."

"Good," Logan told him. "Means you're working and not screwin' around."

The rest of the class went more or less the same way — with the kids who had been doing it longer setting a quick pace while Sying seemed to get frustrated every time it took him a while to get the hang of something new. So almost as soon as Logan dismissed the class for the day, and switched the dampener off — that was it for Sying. He took off running out of the classroom, and he was outside in a second.

"I don't think he likes my class," Logan muttered quietly to Scott.

Scott just started to laugh as he shook his head, leaned back against the wall as he did. "He'll get used to it or he'll find something else," he said.

"He'd be the one in his class to come bitchin'," Logan agreed, nodding.

That had Scott laughing harder as he nodded. "That was a rude awakening."

"If he wants to join the team, he better be up to snuff. I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life pullin' noobies outta tight spots just because they don't want to listen," Logan grumbled, sounding just as hard about it as he did for any of his regular classes.

Noh made his way over to where Logan was with a sort of smile. "I'll make sure he'll back next week," he promised. "I don't want him to quit in frustration and regret it later."

"And I don't want to burn him out before he even gets going," Logan told him. "But he's gotta know if he skips, he'll be even further behind."

"I'll make sure he knows," Noh said, the smile widening and growing warmer. "I've learned how to deal with an obstinate Lee in my time. Next time, he'll come having practiced with a dampener — it's a good idea, really."

Scott was still grinning over the whole thing — amused at how the class had gone and also glad to see that the kids were going to get the fair shake they needed, no favoritism, to keep them up to snuff for the team if they wanted — but it was Krissy that sent him over the edge into laughter again as she came up to Logan.

"I wanna pair up with Chance next time," she told him.

"We'll see," Logan said. "You'll need to be quicker to work with him."

"I don't wanna work with Sying if he's gonna be _grumpy_."

"Well, if you work with him again, just don't take it easy on him like you did this time," Logan warned.

"But he's new," Krissy said. "You gotta go easy on new people."

"And he wants to learn to be faster and keep up; he doesn't want you to go easy on him," Logan told her. "So next time? Take him down."

Krissy grinned at that. "I can do that," she said, nodding before she leaned forward with a little smile. "Boys are stupid sometimes. Mom says you gotta knock 'em down when they're dumb."

"They are," he agreed. "So don't be afraid to put 'em on the ground."

Krissy grinned brilliantly and then all but skipped off to catch up with Kari, with Scott still laughing quietly at the whole thing.

"Well, there's _one _kid who likes your lessons," he had to tease.

"One out of a class this size ain't half bad," Logan agreed.

"Chance and Cody like them too," Scott said after a beat — just to be fair. "I don't think I've seen Chance with _that _particular expression before."

"Yeah, he gets that one from you," Logan said offhandedly.

"Thanks, Logan; I appreciate that," Scott said dryly, shaking his head.

"Chance needed the boost — kind of backup that he's on the right track," Logan said. "And Sying needed a little reality check."

"Let's just hope when they get older they'll be alright on the same team," Scott said.

"Oh, they'll be fine unless Chance has to pull Sying's backside out of the fire," Logan decided. "Then you'll see some Jubilee level pouting."

"Oh, and we didn't see that today?" Scott chuckled.

"You _know _it gets a lot worse than that," Logan said with a smirk. "So much worse."

"We'll see how it goes," Scott laughed, shaking his head as he headed to catch up with his kids.

* * *

Scott had been going over his checkbook that morning when Annie leaned over to steal a kiss — and to steal the checkbook.

"Hey," he laughed, even as she held it above her head for kisses.

"I need this," Annie said primly.

"For what, leverage?" Scott laughed.

"No, I was watching the conventions, and I want to donate to Cleary's—"

"Annie, we can't," Scott said in a sigh. "The X-Men can't be seen—"

"Oh, honestly," Annie said. "You act like we're not allowed to have _opinions_. I just want to take some of our personal money and support someone we know who we believe in. Can't we support our friends?"

Scott smirked at her and pulled her into a kiss. "You're really fired up about this, aren't you?"

"Scott, it wasn't that long ago that they were considering a law to _track _you and our friends and family. This is the first time I can remember watching the news and thinking someone might actually _stop _something like that. Not just speak out — work to make sure that never happens again." Annie shook her head. "I want our kids to feel safe. After everything that's happened lately, can't I get excited for this _friend _of ours?"

Scott let out a breath and then kissed her again. "Yeah, I'm excited for her too."

"But you're exercising cautious pessimism," she surmised.

"Just being careful," he replied.

Annie shook her head but pocketed the checkbook. "Still gonna send her our love and support and a hundred dollars," she sang to Scott cheerfully.

Scott smiled at her. "Can't stop hoping, right?"

"Oh, never. That's the whole point of superheroes, Mr. Summers. Didn't you know that?"

"I stand educated," he teased, then pulled her into a much longer kiss this time.


	10. An Omen of Elfish Proportions

**Chapter 10: "An Omen of Elfish Problems"**

By the end of August, Kate was totally and completely ready to be _done_. This had been the most miserable pregnancy thus far — she'd been sick for a good part of it — and she felt like it was only getting worse and more uncomfortable the closer her due date came.

She had sort of been hoping to be done, but she absolutely hadn't meant to accidentally wish an early labor on herself. She was still two weeks out, according to Hank, but apparently, this kid was just as much done with the whole thing as Kate was.

"Impatient little elf," she muttered as Hank got her all set up in what was a familiar routine at this point. At least this time they were able to get her set up on the drugs faster than last time. She squeezed Kurt's hand and gave him a dark look as the drugs set in. "This needs to be the last time, because if they keep getting worse, I'm not gonna survive the next one."

Kurt couldn't stop the smile. "I'm sure the great Hawkeye can survive a little longer," he teased gently.

Kate gave him a dry look for that — but after that, it was more about getting the little one _out _into the world. At least this time things went a little faster than last time, like the little guy was impatient too. Finally, there was a little bundle wrapped in blue, with the familiar squeaks that all the elflings had, and Hank set him down in Kate's arms so they could get a good look at their newest addition.

He was a deep burgundy color, with the same yellow eyes that Kurt had but a more rounded face and not a hint of curls — just straight, wispy black hair. And, like Kurt and Kaleb, he had just the three toes, though he had all five fingers on both hands, long and thin.

"He's perfect," Kurt whispered. "He has your hair, _Vögelchen._"

"And your eyes," Kate said with a tired little smile, glancing up at Kurt. "He's a good mix of both of us," she said quietly.

Neither of them had addressed the distinctly reddish color of the sweet little boy, but it clearly hadn't escaped the notice of the bamfs, who were chattering insistently and worriedly. A couple of them disappeared in poofs of blue and reappeared with Logan and K in tow, chattering at both of the Howletts in a clear panic.

Logan looked ready to strangle someone — until he saw the little bundle in Kate's arms, at which point he relaxed. "I think I'm losing my touch," he muttered quietly to K. "Because they can't be chattering what I thought they were."

The two of them headed over, already smirking at the couple. "Just couldn't wait, could you?" K asked.

"Of course not," Kurt said, waving her over. "Kade is as impatient as his parents."

"Not like he had much patience to tap into there," Logan said as they stepped closer.

"He is a great blend of both of us," Kate said, holding Kade up so Logan could see him — and get an earful of little squeaks. "My hair… his eyes…"

Both of the ferals paused for just a moment, but Logan was the one quicker to respond. "He's got more than your hair, Kate. Practically a mirror, don't you think? I know I've seen you wear that same color yelling."

Kate chuckled lightly and kissed the top of the little boy's head. "He's perfect."

"Adorably fuzzy," Logan agreed.

"The bamfs — what did they tell you when they brought you here?" Kurt asked after a moment, not quite able to ignore it.

"They were talking about 'red'," Logan told him. "They need their eyes checked."

"It's… deeper than red. A little more purple to it," Kate said, brushing some of the fur on Kade's cheek.

K leaned over, first to kiss Kate's head and then to run a finger down the little boy's cheek with a smile. "Oh, yeah, definitely beyond red. And he'll stay beyond red. That's a lovely shade."

"Agreed," Kurt said, one arm around Kate's shoulders as he glanced up at K. "And if anyone disagrees, they'll have us to deal with, _ja_?"

"Oh, I already know someone is going to end up dying over that," K said, nodding.

"I think… we will need to be vigilant," Kurt said slowly. "It was our anniversary yes, but… it was also not so long after I left my father."

"He won't touch him," K swore, sounding entirely serious.

"No, he will _not_," Kurt said, as if the very thought was ludicrous. "But I will not be so naive to think he won't try — and for that, I'll have my swords close at hand."

"He's beautiful," K said, giving Kurt a little smile. "Congratulations, both of you."

"You should…. You should get to hold him," Kate said slowly, a smile starting to spread over her face. "Seeing as you're already prepared to murder in his name. Just get that protective urge running _real _deep."

"That's an interesting angle you're working there, Hawkeye," K said.

"Seriously. You know he's going to be following you and yours around all the time anyway. He's a _Wagner_."

"Only because he'll be following his older siblings and their father," K argued.

"That's what I said: he's a Wagner."

K shook her head, but on seeing how close Kate was to losing her composure, she very carefully picked up the tiny elfling and let him snuggle in. "Little black duck fluff," K muttered.

"He's just… so perfect," Kate said, leaning back into Kurt and letting a few exhausted tears fall before turning to hide her face in Kurt's shoulder.

As K played with Kade's hair and watched him make little noises, Logan looked up at Kurt. "So, when's Clint supposed to be here? Figured he'd have the first shot at meeting this one."

"He should be here soon. The little one arrived a bit earlier than expected — and the bamfs found you first because… well." Kurt tightened an arm around Kate.

"They like us better," K decided.

Kurt chuckled lightly. "Yes, that's it."

"Well, thanks for the elfling — see you on his birthday," K said, purely teasing as she turned to walk out with him.

"Don't you dare," Kate said, shaking her head on Kurt's shoulder but peering up at her.

"I wouldn't steal your little angel," K laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, bring him back," Kate said, holding out both arms.

"In a minute," K teased, handing Kade over to Logan. "Unless you don't want your hug magnet seal of approval."

Kate paused and then slowly started to grin. "Good point."

"You're both terrible," Logan grumbled as he walked back toward Kate with the little elf.

Kate grinned up at him. "But you love us anyway."

"I'm stuck with you," Logan muttered as Kade took in a big yawn and he handed the little guy to Kate. "But that's about the same thing, isn't it?"

"In Logan-speak? Yes, it is," Kate said, shaking her head as a couple bamfs reappeared with Clint and Natasha in tow.

"Hey, what's the big deal, second wife of mine?" Clint teased K. "Why do you keep getting to meet the mini-hawks first?"

"Because — they like us better," K told him. "Duh."

Clint stuck his tongue out at her as he slid behind Kate, wrapping her in a one-armed hug and then grinning down at the little boy. "Well, hey, he looks like you, Katie Kate."

"That's what I said too — right down to the 'ticked off' coloring," Logan said, stepping back from the little group.

"And here I thought it was the 'regular face,' but I mighta been on her bad side a few too many times," Clint said carelessly as Kate rolled her eyes at him and let him hold the little guy himself.

"No, it's just coming in from all the brimstone," K said. "Messes with your color perception."

"Must be," Clint agreed. "You gotta look into that, Katie Kate. You're supposed to be a Hawkeye. Can't let your vision get screwed with."

"Except you're the one that can't tell her regular purple from her ticked off purple," Logan pointed out. "Gettin' old."

Clint gestured to his hair, which was now more white than blonde. "Uh. Yeah."

"You know, if she's my big sister, that must make you like … wow. Uncle Clint," K decided.

"Mmmm, no, sweetheart, you're just a gold-digger, marrying a sugar daddy like me," Clint said without hesitating. "Took out a big ol' insurance policy, didn'tcha?"

"You're right. I'm after your pizza boxes and old dog toys."

"I knew it."

"I swear, they're going to be doing this when he's on his deathbed and she's asking how much of the will is hers," Kate said, rolling her eyes Logan's way.

"They're just havin' fun — and that means I'm the trouble on the side ... " Logan replied. "Enough to give her father fits."

Natasha smiled lightly as she sat down next to Logan. "And that means I am following in your footsteps, I suppose," she teased lightly. "Such trouble you get me into."

"Nothing new there, darlin'."

"So, are we calling him a redhead or…?" Clint grinned down at the little boy.

"Wow, you really do need your eyes checked," K said. "Sugarplum, his hair is black. Clearly."

"Yeah, but the fur's different. Auburn… ish. What do you do when it's fur, not hair?"

"Aubergine … Burgundy. Wine ... "

"So he's a wine-baby."

"He's a merlot," K decided. "Probably how he came to be anyhow."

"You are _not _calling my little prince a merlot," Kurt said, though not very sharply, shaking his head at her as if he could not believe it.

"I was sure 'port' would be insulting," K replied.

"And yet weirdly fitting," Kate pointed out. "Down the road when the smoke and teleporting comes in…"

"Chianti … maybe …"

"He's an elfling," Kurt said, shaking his head. "What more do you need to call him? It suits the others perfectly fine."

"He is, and it does," Logan agreed. "We'll just leave you to deal with these two for now."

Kate shook her head at the group of them and then held out her hands for Kade. "Zoe and Nick okay?" she asked. "I'm assuming the bamfs took them to play with the kids…" She glanced at the bamfs, who looked almost insulted at the idea that they would have left the kids unsupervised and taken both parents.

"Oh of course," Natasha said. "They won't want to leave once we get upstairs."

"Sorry about that," Kate said with a small smile.

"Not at all," Natasha said, waving her hand before she smoothly slipped over to see the new little boy for herself and run a finger down his cheek. "He's perfect, of course."

"Of course," Kate agreed, leaning back into Kurt and echoing the tired yawn that Kade let out.

"Want me to bring the other elflings?" Clint offered. "They should meet their little brother, right?"

"The bamfs can bring them down," Kate said with a smile toward the little blue imps, and just like that, the telltale _bamf _sounds echoed once and then twice as the bamfs disappeared and then reappeared with all three elflings in tow. It was still the middle of the day, so they were all playing outside until then, and Krissy let out a little squeal when she saw where they were.

"He came?" she asked, almost tripping over herself, with Kaleb and Kari rushing over to come see the little boy as well.

"Yes, he did," Kate said with a smile as she waved the kids over, and they all scrambled up to climb into the bed with her.

"Hi, brother," Kaleb practically sang out as Kari giggled.

"He's so little," Kari said.

"Well, so were you when you were born," Kate explained gently.

"He has pretty fur," Kaleb said.

But that seemed to be too much for Krissy, who was staring at Kade. "No," she said, shaking her head softly.

"It's really pretty," Kaleb insisted, sticking his tongue out at Krissy. "Just 'cause it's not _purple_…"

"No," she said, shaking her head harder. "_Nein, no. _No. He's gotta be _blue_."

"Blue's not _just _for brothers," Kari argued, pointing at her own beautiful fur.

"Blue is _safe_," Krissy said, still perfectly wide-eyed and clearly upset.

"_Schatzi_," Kurt said gently. "He is beautiful, just like you and your brother and sister."

"Kari was pink before," Krissy said.

"Yes, that's true," Kurt said, still speaking gently as he pulled her into a little hug. "But there's no reason to fret, _liebling_. Your mother and I keep you safe — and we'll keep him safe as well. Our friends will help us; you know that."

"I don't want my little brother getting scared," Krissy said, snuggling into Kurt as he gently shushed her and stroked her hair.

"Don't you know, _liebling_, that nothing can get you while you're with your family?" he asked gently and kissed the top of her head.

She snuggled into him a bit more before she gently reached over and kissed the very top of Kade's head. "I'm gonna take good care of him," she decided.

"I know you will," Kurt said, pulling them both in — as Kari and Kaleb decided to join in the hug.

"Oooh, hugs." A new little voice joined the group as Jolie peeked into the lab. She must have known by now that her dad wasn't in the lab that there was a baby to see, and she was grinning when she saw the newcomer. "I love it when Daddy gets to help with this stuff."

"Do you want to meet Kade, Jo?" Kate asked with a smile, and Jolie nodded, her tail swaying easily behind her as she made her way over.

"He's my brother," Kaleb explained to Jolie.

"He's pretty," Jolie promised Kaleb, giving his hand a squeeze before she looked over the new elfling for herself. "I like him," she decided.

Kate scooped her up to sit with her and then peppered her with little kisses. "We always need more fuzzy kids with beautiful tails, right?"

"Right!" Jolie agreed, giggling madly as she tried to tickle Kate back.

"Tickle war!" Kari declared — and after that, the medical wing descended into chaos.

* * *

It was about an hour later that Kurt made his way to where Logan was, trying a few different places before he found him in the War Room with K looking through any intel they could find on Azazel.

"Let's go hunting," Kurt said before the smoke had even cleared, his gaze bright and angry.

"Working on it," Logan said, though he stopped and gave Kurt a long, hard look. "But you have more important things to do."

"Logan, I have just spent an hour with Krissy terrified something is going to happen to her new brother. I need — we need to do something. Now."

"Which is exactly why you need to stay here, with her and your other kids who aren't scared, and keep your _wife _and newborn son safe and stable," Logan pointed out. "While we hunt him down for you."

Kurt stared at Logan for a moment before the wind seemed to come out of his sails, and he sat down heavily, bringing a hand to his face to rub his eyes. "It… is still not safe for K," he said quietly.

"Why?" K asked, stopping her search into the texts that Kurt had sent and straightening up. "Strange cleared me."

"I just don't want him to get the chance at retribution," Kurt said, shaking his head at her.

"Retribution for what? He got what he wanted most at that time," she reasoned. "Are you trying to tell me I made a demon have seller's remorse? Come on."

He let out a little laugh and then shook his head again, then gave her an almost impish grin. "Well, Logan did tell me to care for my children…" he teased.

"I know, Dad, but come on. What … what do you know that I don't?" K asked, though she took a moment to get Kurt a cup of coffee from the pot that the two of them had nearby.

"We know nearly the same when it comes to him," he admitted with a little smile. "She's been giving me the stories that correspond to my father's research," he told Logan. "They are _not _bedtime reading, and they are worrying. Tales of immortality, stealing life from another…"

"So what are you thinkin', Elf?" Logan asked. "You think these are the blueprints on how to do that?"

"I think he's terrified of facing Hell as a normal soul, forced to atone for his actions," Kurt told him simply. "And so he's trying to establish his kingdom here instead — and avoid death at all costs."

"Then he really pissed off the wrong damn couple now, didn't he?" Logan muttered.

"Or the right one," Kurt said with a small frown. "Think of others you've seen steal life, like Selene — you two would be fountains of youth. _That _is what I'm worried about. That he will steal power from my children and life from my friends."

"Yeah, but he's gotta make his way past the pointy bits," Logan pointed out.

"I'm a new father again, Logan — I'm allowed to worry over the future," Kurt shot back with a wan smile. "Especially when this should be a joyous occasion and I can't stop thinking that my father will be back to take more power from my children whenever I look at Kade."

"We'll take care of it," Logan promised. "Call up Strange or Billy if you're worried and tell them what you think he's up to."

"Kate has already told Billy to come meet the little one. He'll be by with his husband and sweet little ones by tomorrow."

"Then why on God's green earth would you want to go with us right now?" K asked.

"Because I'm aching to put my swords through the problem and be _done _with it," Kurt said honestly. He turned the cup of coffee in his hands as his tail switched irritably. "This has gone on too long."

"How about we do the dirty work, and when we find him, we can send one of your little buddies back to bring you to us?" K offered.

Kurt let out a breath. "I suppose… But I don't want to ask you to leave your own little ones for too long either," he said, sitting up a little straighter. "If there is no trail…."

"The only reason we haven't left already is that there is no solid trail to start with," Logan admitted.

"Hard to track teleporters," Kurt said with a wry sort of smile.

"Only because he ditched the phone he was using," K told him.

"He doesn't make the same mistakes twice — often," Kurt said, this time with a slightly more amused smile.

"Which mistakes has he repeated?" K asked.

"Oh, underestimating my friends and family, for one," Kurt said. "It seems to be an Achilles heel for far, far too many people — and I'm grateful for it every time."

"I'm not sure how he'll see past that one," K pointed out.

"Then it will be his undoing," Kurt decided.

"We'll let you know if we find a starting point," Logan promised. "Scott already said he'd keep an eye on the kids for this little trip."

"Why let him have all the fun?" Kurt teased lightly.

"Are you jealous, Kurt?" K asked. "Are we neglecting you in leaning on you for babysitting services?"

Kurt grinned. "I'll forgive it only because I have such a new elfling at home."

"Which is why we didn't ask you," Logan told him.

Kurt got to his feet and set his coffee cup down. "Please tell me before you leave."

"Will do," Logan agreed, though just before Kurt left, the screen that took up the wall across from Logan lit up with Rachel telling him that she was having trouble nailing down Azazel's mind.

"I can't tell if it's a mechanical shield or something else," Rachel admitted. "I'm hoping it's man-made or magic, because he gives me a headache when I kick his butt telepathically in a fight," she added with a smirk. "And I hate to think he's got that power back."

"Just have to torch him then, darlin'."

"He might like it," Rachel pointed out. "Maybe I'll bring Bobby."

"Pretty sure that's the usual advice for a pain in the ass. Alternate heat and ice …"

"It's a pretty deadly combo." Rachel chuckled lightly. "I'll keep looking."

"If you have a general area, I can put Fury on it," Logan said, trying to keep from smirking to himself.

"He can't find anyone faster than I can," Rachel teased.

"No, but he can keep an eye on the whole area and drop a bomb on it if need be."

"Just the one eye."

"Hey, he's gotta work within his limitations."

"Honestly, I think I can narrow it down to … well. More or less Russia. Northern Eurasia."

"Yeah, nothing good's ever come outta there," Logan muttered. "Pretty sure he's already got a watch on that area though."

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Logan and nodded, though she couldn't pass up the tease. "Just don't let your favorite Widow hear you say things like that."

"Why not? Not like I'm wrong," he pointed out.

She paused, smirked, and nodded. "You're right. I'm sure she'd agree that she's 'nothing good.'"

"She's not out of that part of Russia, ya goon," Logan laughed.

"It was too good to pass up," she laughed.

"Thanks, Rachel," Logan told her. "When you come by, try to get Kate smiling. She's a little stressed."

"Yeah, I would be too," Rachel said, shaking her head. "And can I ask a personal favor? Keep Charlie away from that stress if you can. She still hasn't learned how to turn it off."

"You got it," Logan agreed. "We'll try to keep it light."

"Thanks," Rachel said before she signed off and the screen switched back to a map.


	11. Fragility

**Chapter 11: "Fragility"**

School had been in session for just a short while when Logan and K packed up to take the quick trip up to the Alpha Flight School. He still wasn't entirely sure what to expect, since every time he'd tried to ask Mac about what the plan was, he only got details on when and where to be, which had him a little bit more growly than he would have been otherwise, on top of how frustrated he was with weeks past and still no leads on the demon problem.

Of course, that was nothing compared to how irritated he got once they showed up. The one thing that was as Mac had promised was the when and where, and _who_. And Snowbird was just as happy to see him as he was to see her after so very long.

But that's when it went south. "I didn't think Mac would be able to get you here," she said with a grin. "But you're the reason I came, I'll have you know."

Logan didn't have time to respond to her before the doors to the hall they were in opened to a full press conference, and Logan swore under his breath. Because of course this was what Mac was after.

He pulled Snowbird aside as Mac started to talk to the group of reporters and ,as usual, ignored most of what Mac was saying as the two old teammates discussed the terms that Mac had used to get them there. It was pretty clear that she was ticked off when she openly glared Mac's way.

But as the press conference went on, the two of them openly ignored where they were and what was going on around them as the rest of their old team stood behind Mac like the nice little backdrop he'd hoped for. Instead, Logan and Snowbird had traded cell phones and were going through pictures, having their own conversation and updating each other on what they'd been up to out of the public eye, which, amazingly, was still a bigger list for Logan than it was for Snowbird.

As they chatted, it was clear they'd missed something important when Mac called for Logan and had to do so twice before Logan even looked his way, scowling all the while. But Logan had missed the question, and he didn't care enough to get into it. "Not taking questions," Logan growled out, which at least got Snowbird to laugh.

When the press conference was finally, mercifully over, it was clear that Logan was ticked; he didn't wait to even say goodbye to Heather and Mac before he took K by the arm and the two of them headed out.

"You are in so much trouble," K told him as soon as they got out of the building. "And I know you were being spiteful, but seriously, this … is going to be so bad."

"Fill me in on the way back," Logan told her.

"They were asking when you were leaving the X-Men, or if you had already, and every incarnation of that and 'oh yay, come back to syrup and donut land' that you can imagine," K told him. "Which is flippin' perfect because that whole mess is exactly what Scott's been _concerned _with since they ripped off the whole 'train up mutants' school thing." K shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "The whole ignoring them and refusing to answer questions? Total backfire, my love."

"Great," he grumbled. "What are the chances that it didn't make it to the States? Seeing as no one listens to 'breaking out of Canada'."

"I've never thought you were an optimist," K laughed.

* * *

When they got to Westchester, it was painfully clear that not only had the press conference made it to the States but Scott had seen the whole thing, judging by the fact that he was in his shades again.

"Hey Slim," Logan said wearily, waiting for it as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"What the _hell _kind of crap — you've got some nerve lying to my face — can't even tell me yourself you want off the team!" Scott shouted his way as he stalked over.

"When have I _ever _lied to you?" Logan countered. "And if I wanted off, I'd quit."

"I _told _you there was a reason Mac wanted the team back together, and you — that was real cute what you pulled with the reporters. _Helluva _way to split the team."

"Ignoring them? Scott, I'm _not _joining Alpha Flight."

"Yeah? When, then? Cause it sure looks like it from where I'm standing," Scott shot back.

"Okay, Scott," K said, stepping between the two of them. "That was a total screw job and you know it. He baited Logan there on the basis of seeing Snowbird — and vice versa. Did they show a wide shot of the stage? Because those two were nowhere near the others."

Scott paused and turned K's way for a second before he looked back at Logan. "Damnit, Logan," he said at last, shaking his head and still clearly furious over the whole thing.

"I told you I wasn't going to join that team," Logan said, turning Scott's way with a glare. "Not. Ever."

"It was a crap deal all the way around," Scott ground out, still mad but now at Mac more than Logan. "And a real cute way to get around the system we've got in place for the two schools." He spun to face Logan. "It's not happening again. He doesn't get to use you for a photo op like that."

"No kidding," Logan said, more ticked off at both of them the more he thought about it. He turned to leave, heading down to the Danger Room and not in the mood to keep talking to anyone. As soon as Logan was gone, and K knew he wouldn't overhear them, she spun toward Scott.

"Do you _really _think that he'd dump on you like that?" K asked, frowning.

"That's what it looked like," Scott pointed out.

"Yeah, well, we both know it's not usually how it looks, I'm asking you — _you _who have known him for … _ever_. Do you think he'd do that to you with no warning and no reason and no … really?"

"I _told _him Mac Hudson had something going on."

"I know," K said, as soothingly as she could. "But you're not answering my question. And it's even a simple yes or no. Do you think that after everything that has gone on even just since I've been around to see it — do you think that he would do that to you?"

"No," Scott admitted, rubbing his forehead. "K, you know that. But you were there, and you saw what happened, and you _know _how hard they've been pushing to get him up there."

"I did. And I saw how blindsided both of them were by it," K agreed. "But since when has that ever worked out in anyone's favor when dealing with Logan?"

"God, K, you don't have to talk down to me. I know what it was."

"Then why did you just ... " K sighed and let her shoulders drop.

"What, you think there was no reason to even _think _there might _maybe _be cause to be upset?" Scott asked, shooting her a solid glare.

"Scott, he _told you_ he would never go back to Mac. He even brought me along with his best breakdown of how to kill every one of them in case it turned into a smash and grab."

"Then why the _hell _did he go in the first place?" Scott demanded. "With _no _intel of what was going to happen, when Mac's been _pushing_ and he _knows _Mac's going around the system—"

"Because he was concerned for Snowbird!" K replied. "She's been hiding for a reason. She didn't want to be around Mac. Not without backup she could trust."

Scott waved his hand at her, shaking his head as he turned to leave. "Mac's a piece of work, you know that?" he grumbled.

"Yeah, well. He's not alone," K replied.

"No," Scott said, shooting her another glare. "I had _no _reason to worry after the _last _trip you took to Canada, did I? No reason to think they were getting along better?"

"They _were _getting along better," K told him. "But he still stood by the 'never again'. Why do you think he left that part of the trip early? He didn't want to be around Mac and let him try to push him."

"Yeah, that's the idea I got from the pictures you sent," Scott shot back. "If you're going to talk down to me, at least do it from the high ground."

"Just because he's not going to be on a team with him doesn't mean he's going to not talk to the guy. And I'm not talking down to you; I'm just pointing out that you _just _told Logan you think he'd screw you over that quick. So do with it what you will."

"Dammit, K," Scott finally snapped her way. "Everyone's so damn worried about him taking it the wrong way. I lost my temper, alright? I had good reason. He can take it."

"Yeah, I know. And you're allowed to lose your temper. I'm just saying you might want to check in on him before you go to your next class. He's probably going to do something to hurt himself."

Scott glared at her for a second before he turned on his heel and headed down the hallway, muttering under his breath about "so damn fragile" as he did.

When he looked down into the Danger Room, Logan was standing there, still in his street clothes — though his shirt was missing a sleeve already — with the entirety of Alpha Flight around him. But Scott must have shown up at the very start of this program because he barely got up to the window when Logan simply started tearing into them as they attacked. Not one or two at a time, but the whole team.

If it wasn't for the fact that Scott was in such a foul mood, he might have been able to appreciate the tactical side of it. And he was surprised to see that out of all the powerhouses on that team, Jean-Paul was the first to go down, even before Logan put his sights on some of the more substantial-looking members.

Logan didn't slow down or hesitate in the least as he tore through them one by one. Cold. Disconnected. Scary efficient. When he was done, he stood there for a moment in the center of the room, one hand on his hip, and his eyes closed as he caught his breath.

But before he could entirely get his wind back, he started calling out the next code while the white and red suits shimmered away to finally be replaced by the Hulk, in a full-on rage already. There wasn't anything to be said or any way to be slick and step in without being noticed right off. And the strategy there was so completely different to what Logan had just been using that it was almost laughable.

It was still a head-on assault, but the operation in motion was avoiding the heavy hits that shook the whole room and booth every time that the simulated Hulk _missed _him. But it wasn't hard to see that Logan couldn't avoid him forever, and after a while, it was a simple matter of one of those thunderous hits to the ground shaking his footing enough that Logan slipped — and ended up getting creamed.

It didn't take more than a second after that before Scott switched off the sim and swore under his breath when he saw that Logan was unconscious. He swore again and then pulled out his comm. "K, did you bring the kids to your suite yet?"

"I was going to get them now," she replied.

"Don't just yet," Scott said. "Logan's got himself knocked out. Let's get him up there before them."

"Alright," she replied. "Anything else?"

"No, just didn't want the kids to see him beat up now that he's back." He got up and headed down from the booth, shaking his head to himself.

* * *

A few hours later, Logan woke up in his room, cleaned himself up, and headed outside. He wasn't in a mood to deal with anyone yet, and if he was being honest, he was a little miffed that Scott had stopped the program when he did.

It wasn't long before he found himself in the horse barn, and while he was there, he started getting the chores done. He headed up to the hay loft to toss down a few bales, but a movement of blue fabric in the corner caught his eye.

He paused and listened, frowning deeper when he realized it was Charlie curled up and trying to hide from him behind a few bales of hay. "Charlie, what are you doing up here, honey?"

"I don't want to be inside," she said very quietly.

"Me either," he said with a nod but then stopped where he was. "You want me to leave you be?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I can't figure out what's me right now," she admitted.

"Did it get worse when I came up?" he asked.

"No, I can feel you in the house too," she said quietly. "Everybody's just so _angry_. And scared."

"Was it better when we were gone for a while earlier?"

Charlie shook her head and finally peered around the hay at him, wide-eyed. "No, that was _worse_," she said.

"Okay, I don't understand it then," Logan admitted. "Should've been better."

Charlie bit her lip and waved him over. "No," she said, leaning back against the hay beside him once he had come up. "My dad… he's scared. He doesn't say so, but he is."

"He's probably worried about you, kiddo," Logan told her.

"And you," Charlie pointed out.

"What makes you say that?" he said, looking entirely like he wasn't believing a word.

She glanced up at him and made a face. "I may not know all the reasons, but I _know _what people are feeling," she insisted.

"You don't know who he'd be worried about either," he pointed out.

"It's not hard to figure out when it spikes when you leave," Charlie countered. "I'm almost ten; I'm not _stupid_."

"That just doesn't make any sense, sweetheart," Logan said as he took a seat across from her, leaning against the side of the barn.

"Well, that's your problem, because I _know _what's up with emotions," Charlie said, picking her chin up a bit. "Like… I know you're still mad. And I know Dad was totally scared earlier while you were gone." She shrugged lightly. "I think that's why he's mad now. He doesn't like being scared."

"No one with any sense does," Logan told her.

She nodded. "That's… that's why I'm in the barn," she explained. "I don't like being scared either, and I don't even have a _reason _to be scared. There's just other people being that way, and I get stuck in it."

"We gotta help you fix that," he told her, then held out one arm. "You look like you might need a hug."

She opened her mouth like she might argue but ended up crawling over to where he was to lay her head down on his shoulder and bury her face there, and he wrapped her up tight and held her there, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

She stayed there for a little while, hiding in his shoulder until she let out a hitching sound and looked up at him. "Can I ask you something?" she said quietly.

"Sure you can," he told her, just as quietly.

"My dad… he gets so _scared _when people leave," she said, biting her bottom lip. "But… I don't want to stay in the house. But I don't want to hurt my dad. And I don't know … what am I supposed to do? Everyone in the house — and on the team — people get hurt, and there's a lot of fear, and even when people are happy, sometimes like with Kade it's happy _and _hurting and I don't know what to do."

Logan stared at her for a moment, not expecting anything like that to come out of the little girl. "I don't know, sweetheart," he said finally. "But you can't stay here and be miserable when it's not even your problem that's bringing you down."

"But I don't want to make things worse," she said.

"He knows what your ability is and that it's hard to deal with," Logan reasoned. "Maybe if you went with Rachel for a while, and she could work with you more, you could figure out how to turn it off faster and come back."

She glanced up at him and frowned for a long moment. "But… what if I go with Rachel and everyone here _stays _mad and scared?" she asked. "Sometimes… sometimes it helps if people know you're scared."

Logan tapped the side of his nose. "I know," he told her.

"Not always," she said, her own nose wrinkled up.

"I ignore it sometimes," he told her.

"You ignore it a _lot _with my dad," she pointed out.

"To be fair, he's had a lot to be scared over lately," Logan said. "If it makes sense, I ignore it."

"Yeah… he was pretty scared because Dr. Essex was around."

"He scares everyone," Logan told her honestly.

"I know," she said. She glanced up at Logan. "He's scared of losing people. I'm really, really sure that's what's it. I thought about it a lot, and it makes sense."

"Yeah, I got that," Logan agreed.

She laid her head back on his shoulder. "So maybe I should stay."

"Maybe you should talk to your dad about this," Logan told her. "It's not good to have to hide in a little ball in the hay loft."

"No," she had to agree. "But then I'm not leaving… and Chance isn't sad… and Dad isn't worried about me."

"I think you might be wrong about that," Logan told her. "You can't hide forever."

"I don't _want _to go back to the house," she told him honestly. "I don't like it when I don't know where my feelings are."

He thought about it for a moment. "Do you want me to teach you something?"

"Is it going to help me be able to stay?"

"It might," he told her. "Can you give me just a minute or two, then try to focus on me?"

She tipped her head to the side. "O...kay."

Logan shifted away from her for a moment and changed how he was sitting, resting his hands on his knees as he closed his eyes and started to center himself. It didn't take too long, and he stayed that way, breathing slow and deep to keep the calmness until Charlie reached out to touch his arm.

The added contact made it easier for her to focus on him so she could find his calm too, and she tried to focus on that, relaxing a little bit more the longer she could focus on it because it was something outside of the intense emotions at the mansion. Finally, after a long time like that, she let out a breath. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"I can try to teach you how to do that yourself," he told her. "Helluva lot better than curling up in a ball."

"Yeah," she had to agree with a little smile. She rearranged the way she was sitting and nodded to herself. "Yeah, that's a good idea. It's nice to not be scared or angry."

"You've got an edge on anyone else trying to learn it just because you know what it feels like going in," Logan told her.

"And do you think — maybe if I learn this, I don't have to leave?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe," he said, nodding. "If nothing else, though, if you know how to find your center, you should be able to tell when you're getting overwhelmed by everyone else. And get away from it."

"I can usually tell that much," Charlie pointed out. "It's hard to read or play music when it's too much"

"Then you should be able to catch it early and reset yourself," he told her. "I forget sometimes and do … other things first."

"You mean you get beat up," Charlie said, totally reasonably.

"When I've got it comin'? Yeah."

"No one should get beat up, Logan," Charlie said severely. "No one except bad guys."

"You're young," he said, shaking his head. "It's not always that cut and dried."

"I'm not stupid," she said, frowning his way. "I know sometimes good guys get beat up too. I just said they _shouldn't_. You should listen better, Logan."

"I heard you just fine," Logan told her quietly. "I'm just telling you that you're wrong."

"That doesn't make _any _sense," Charlie said with her nose scrunched up. "You _can't _think good guys should get beat up, because that is how bad guys work, and you're _not _a bad guy. Not even a little bit." She tapped him in the chest once. "I'd know if you were because you'd be hateful all the time."

"Okay, sure," he said, shaking his head. "Let me know when you want to start, and if it helps, you can leave your hand on mine while I go into it next time — and then you can try it yourself."

"Can we start tomorrow?" she asked openly. "I want to start fast so I don't have to hide."

"Sure," he agreed. "You know where I'll be. Come get me when you're ready."

She couldn't help but give him a sideways grin. "In the hay loft?"

"Is that where I usually am?" he countered.

"No, but you were hiding too, so _maybe _that's where you'll be tomorrow."

"Sweetheart, if I was hiding, you wouldn't find me," he said with a little smirk. "But if it's all the same to you, why don't we head down to the pier next time. It's a little hot up here."

"Okay," she said with a little nod before she flung her arms around his neck for a quick hug.

* * *

**Charlie met with Logan down at the dock the next day, and she was glad that they had it scheduled for that morning, because she was already starting to get a little tired out. **

"Little bit cooler out here, isn't it?" Logan said as he took a seat at the end of the dock.

She nodded and sat down next to him. "We should find somewhere else when it gets _really _cold," she said.

"I'll show you where to go when it gets really cold," Logan promised as he shifted closer to her.

She grinned at that and tucked her legs up beneath her. "Can we start like yesterday? I'll follow you?"

"Why don't you see if you can follow from the very start," he told her. "Maybe it'll help you see how I push it all out of the way."

Charlie nodded and held out a hand with a shy smile. "Alright."

He moved and waved her over so she could touch his arm without reaching for it and started out, again closing his eyes and starting to force himself to breathe slowly. Again, it only took him a little while to push everything back and work down to the calm center and let it wash over him.

Charlie was able to follow him closely, and even though she was supposed to be learning how to push everything aside for the calm, she couldn't stop smiling for a while — because it was _working_. After a while on the dock, she felt like she had a handle on things, like everyone else's emotions were a dull roar in the background that she could ignore if she chose to.

Finally, she peeked one eye open and grinned at Logan. "I think this is gonna work," she told him, not even bothering to hide the excitement.

"Yeah?" he said slowly.

She nodded. "It's like… a breath of fresh air," she explained.

"Next time, you can try to get there yourself," he told her. "And I'll be here if it doesn't work for you."

She grinned and threw her arms around his neck for a hug. "Thank you, Logan," she said.

"Anytime, kiddo," he told her as he gave her a little squeeze in return.

She was still grinning as she released him and tipped her head to the side. "You should do this more," she told him. "You're more relaxed. I like being around you when you're like this."

He smirked at her and nodded. "I used to do it a lot," he told her.

"Well, you should do it more." She leaned forward. "And maybe get others to do it, too, because it's _way _easier not to get lost when emotions aren't so intense."

"It's not something everyone can do," Logan told her. "A lot of people can't let it go long enough to look for the calm."

"Yeah, I think it's easier for me," Charlie admitted with a little smile. "I can sort of _feel _where you're going. Like learning a song."

"When I learned it, I was told it was finding the calm in the center of the storm. But it's easy to get lost in the storm, too," Logan said with a little shrug.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I can see that too. I think of it like… like trying to hear the flutes in an orchestra. Lots of sounds, all together — and you just want one part."

"Whatever works so you can find what you're lookin' for," Logan told her as he got up on his feet and offered her a hand.

She gave him one last hug once she was on her feet, and she was tall enough that she didn't have to get on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm really glad this is working," she told him honestly before she took a step back and waved. "See you tomorrow."

She took off at a run back toward the house, simply bursting with the good news that she wanted to share with her dad — as soon as she could find him. She glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see how much time had passed before she rushed over to where Scott's class would be getting out soon.

The older students at the school all knew Charlie by name and made sure to say hi to her as they filed past when the bell rang, and then Charlie slipped into the classroom as Scott was gathering his things. "Hey, Dad!" she called out, still beaming — and grinning even wider because she could tell that Scott was glad to hear her in a good mood, too.

"Hey, Charlie. What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I'm learning meditation now," she said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.

"You are?" Scott asked, one eyebrow raised. "When did you decide that?"

"Yesterday," she said, shrugging easily. She skipped over to hop up on the desk to sit down and talk with him, her legs swinging over the sides. "Everyone was so mad yesterday; I needed to figure out how to not get caught in it."

Scott's smile died, and he let out a sigh as he pulled her into a short hug. "Sorry about that, sweetheart."

"It happens. A lot. Here," Charlie said, shrugging but not making a move to get out of the hug until Scott let go. "And… I thought maybe it would be better if I just…" She glanced up at Scott, who was watching her with a perfectly open expression. "Well, now that I have meditation, I don't _have _to go anywhere," she said quickly.

Scott frowned, and Charlie bit her lip because she could feel the fact that he was upset for her. "Where were you going?" he asked.

"Maybe LA," she said. "They're happy with Ael, and it's not a superhero school, so there's not a lot of hurting… And Remy's there, so he could teach me how to keep it separate. Or Chicago with Rachel. I don't know." She quickly glanced up at Scott. "But I'm _not _going anywhere anymore. I'm learning meditation instead so I don't have to leave."

For a long moment, Scott stared at her before he pulled her into a much longer and warmer hug with her head tucked up underneath his chin. "I'm sorry you thought you had to leave at all," he told her quietly.

Charlie shook her head. "People are allowed to have feelings," she said. "It's okay. I just have to figure out where I am. And I can do that. Remy's been helping me, and Rachel's been helping me, and Logan showed me how to meditate yesterday and this morning — and it really works when I'm getting overwhelmed. It does!"

"I believe you."

"So I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going anywhere, and you don't have to worry about that, and I'm going to learn how to meditate," Charlie said, wrapping her arms around him until she could tell that he was moving on into more relief than the hurt from earlier that she'd been thinking she had to leave. "I didn't _want _to leave," she promised him very quietly.

Scott kissed the top of her head and then tipped his head down to he could look her in the eyes. "Charlie, if it ever gets that bad again, you need to tell me," he said. "You don't have to deal with this on your own."

"It's okay," Charlie said with a little smile. "I told you: meditating is _working_." She gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Besides, Dad, you worry _way _too much."

"I'd worry more if I thought you were trying to take on the world by yourself instead of telling me about it," Scott said. He brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. "You're more important to me than anything else in the world. If you need anything, even if you think you need to leave, it's more important that you feel safe to ask for it, alright?"

"I don't _have _to leave, Dad."

"I know; I heard that. But next time, please tell me or your Mom if you're hurting that badly." He smiled. "I know we're not as good at keeping tabs on our emotions as you are, but we can still help you make plans so you're comfortable and safe."

She shook her head at him but gave him a hug anyway. "Okay, Dad. I'll tell you _if _it ever comes up, but really, I got it all figured out, so you don't have to worry, okay?"

"Yeah, I got that too," Scott said with a little smile before he picked her up and set her down on the floor. "You know what? I've got some time before my next class. Why don't we get out of this house for a while and get some milkshakes?"

* * *

Logan hadn't really felt like dealing with any of the teachers yet — outside of K and Kurt, of course — and when he wasn't doing what he had to, he was sure to keep to his little family and out of everyone's way.

He particularly didn't want anything to do with Scott, and he somehow found a way to take evading him into a new art form with an incredible amount of success. Even after Charlie told him that Scott wanted to talk to him, and after their weekly karate class for the kids where Logan pointedly paired Kurt with Scott so he could focus on the smaller kids and keep his record of no contact in place.

But he should have known that it couldn't continue forever, and sooner or later, he'd have to listen to him. He just didn't expect Scott to address him with a note rather than his usual method of waiting him out and getting in his face.

He frowned when he stepped into his office and saw the handwritten note in the center of his desk.

_Charlie told me what happened. Thank you. -S_

Logan stared at it for a moment, frowning. There was no way that this had ever happened before. And what was worse, he wasn't sure what exactly Scott meant, but he wasn't about to bring it up and start _another _fight. So instead, he let out a little 'huh' and crossed the room to place the note in the safe that he kept in the wall.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kate had just gotten Kade down for a nap when she saw Krissy sneaking into her little brother's room. Kate almost called out to tell Krissy to be quiet, since Kade was still only _lightly _sleeping, but when Kate saw how careful Krissy was being, she decided to instead wait and see what her oldest daughter had in mind.

As she watched, Krissy crept into Kade room and simply crouched down, watching Kade for a long time, her gaze on his little chest with every breath he took.

Kate watched the whole thing from the doorway, her hand over her mouth. She recognized the protective look on Krissy's face as the same one that Kurt often wore when he was defending his family. And honestly, Kate couldn't decide if she was proud of Krissy for looking out for Kade or if she was heartbroken that Krissy was so scared of her grandfather's influence that she was camping out in her baby brother's room.

Finally, Kate stepped back and left the two of them in peace. There was nothing wrong with letting Krissy get a little reassurance from being close to her brother.

After all, both of Krissy's parents were heroes. It made sense that Krissy would want to be as well.


	12. Hope in the Future

**(A/N): Well, y'all, I can't believe it, but we've found our way to the end of another volume! Head on over to Canucklehead Cowgirl's profile for the next one, which will be called "Don't Be in a Hurry to Grow Up."**

* * *

**Chapter 12: "Hope in the Future"**

Leslie Ann was watching the news with her hands clasped in front of her, holding her breath as the vote tallies came in. The election was close, and she was kind of stressed about it, if she was honest. After all, politics could have such a _serious _impact on her life. She knew that. She'd lost Neil, she'd had to go to therapy, all because people stirred up hate.

Misty Cleary had gotten walloped in the debates over her support for mutant rights, and Leslie Ann really, _really _didn't want to get stuck with another guy who thought things like the Leslie Initiative were okay.

Her best friend, Jana, had come to Avenger's Tower to watch the results come in with her, and Leslie Ann was glad for that. Plus, Dani Cage had come to complete the sleepover. And there was something about having her best friend from Westchester and her best friend in the Avengers there at her side that helped Leslie Ann keep from panicking.

Watching the news still hurt. But Leslie Ann was really hoping for even the _promise _of change.

She wasn't naive. Not anymore. She didn't think she could pin all her hopes on Senator Cleary and send a prayer into the wind that everything would get fixed with one election. But not electing a scumbag was definitely a step in the right direction, right?

"You know it's cool to breathe, right?" Dani said, bouncing a piece of popcorn off of Leslie Ann's head and getting her attention that way.

Leslie Ann stuck out her tongue and threw some popcorn back at Dani. "I _am _breathing."

"Oh yeah. That's why you're turning the same purple shades as the Barton family wears."

"I'm not _that _bad!"

"Get a mirror, Amazon."

"Shut up."

Jana laughed at the two of them. "Get a room, both of you."

Leslie Ann rolled her eyes. "Oh please."

"Like Amazon is even in my league," Dani said at the same time.

"Pretty sure there's a line here about protesting too much," Jana teased.

"Nah," Dani said with a shrug. "That would mean I actually care about dating."

"And you don't?"

"Not even a little bit," Dani said.

"Fair enough," Jana said.

"Not like _some _people and their basketball boyfriends," Leslie Ann teased.

"Hey, Brandon's cute!" Jana defended.

"Uh-huh. I've seen you wearing his jersey, too."

"It's comfy!"

"Uh-huh."

"Hey, I came here because you _invited_ me," Jana said, though she was laughing. "I can go snuggle up with my _basketball boyfriend_ instead, you know."

"Nobody's stopping you," Dani said dryly.

Leslie Ann laughed at both of them — and then immediately shushed them when the vote tallies started to come in for the West Coast.

She wouldn't be able to handle it if she had to put up with four more years dealing with the likes of Joshua Bradley. She just wouldn't.

Jana could obviously see that her friend was stressed out, because she reached out to grab Leslie Ann's hand and hold it tight. "Hey, remember what Dani was saying about breathing?"

Leslie Ann nodded, though her gaze was on the television screen.

Jana let out a sigh and then moved in front of the screen to crouch in Leslie Ann's sightline. "Listen," she said, "I agreed to watch this thing with you, but if you're going to have a full-blown anxiety attack, I'm going to turn this off and knock you out."

"Jana—"

"You know I know how."

"Yeah, we both got X-Men training," Leslie Ann pointed out.

"And then you went to the Avengers," Jana pointed out. "Face it, Leslie Ann. You're going soft on me."

Leslie Ann gasped and shoved Jana in the shoulder. "I am not!"

"You so are," Jana said, shoving Leslie Ann right back.

"Okay, ladies; get a room," Dani said, perfectly straight-faced, which had both Jana and Leslie Ann laughing at the turnabout.

The next half an hour went on about like that as the vote results came in. Every time Jana or Dani thought Leslie Ann was getting too close to a panic attack or a depressive spiral, they would step in to distract her with jokes, winks, nods, that sort of thing.

And it worked.

Somehow, Leslie Ann made it through the West Coast tallies long enough to hear that Cleary had finally crossed the last few Electoral College votes — and then she grabbed Jana's shoulders and positively cried her eyes out.

"Woah, hey, breathe," Jana said, wrapping her friend up.

"It's just so nice to have something go _right_," Leslie Ann said in a breath.

"Girl, you really need to get out more if _this _is a relief," Dani said.

"Kind of a sad indictment of how bad things are for mutants, huh?" Jana pointed out.

"Good point," Dani agreed, sliding over to join the hug when it was clear Leslie Ann needed it.

* * *

Fall seemed to pass by quickly after the rocky start to the semester. The kids had their weekly lessons, Charlie had meditation classes, and every one of the adults had scheduled time in their class schedules to work intel in the War Room — but there was no new information on Azazel. But there had also been no sign of him trying to poke into Kade's life, either, so for the most part, the mansion residents were starting to relax a little.

And with Creed dead, the joint birthday party for James and Logan could get underway without the overtones that last year's had. Which, again, was good for Charlie.

But since James was turning seven, the day was all about him; they'd celebrate Logan with some drinks and such after the kids went to bed. Already, James was in a _great_ mood, with two of his favorite people quick to give him their presents first.

Scott had given him ice fishing equipment, along with a promise that they'd go as soon as the ice was right. And Kari had brought over a big box with a grin and made sure to give him a _huge _kiss before he opened the chemistry set — and immediately broke into a huge grin.

Now, the two kids were giggling in the corner and playing with the set as the smart little boy showed Kari how to make stink bombs and smoke bombs.

"Well, there's a familiar sight," Kate said with a grin as she slid up to Logan. "A Wagner… A Howlett… Causing trouble and loving every second of it. Must be weird watching it from this side, huh?" she teased, bumping his shoulder as she had Kade in one arm. The littlest elfling had reached the age where he'd learned how to giggle, and that was on full display during the party — he was giving out smiles and laughter like it was candy.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah. You're totally ignorant," Kate said, grinning before she kissed his cheek. "Happy birthday, by the way. You're so, so lucky I'm saving my big bash for the _next _decade-iversary."

"You mean if you live that long," he chuckled.

"Puh-lease. I'm thirty-five, not _a hundred and forty _like _some _people I could mention."

"Yeah, but you're thirty-five and more purple than black …"

"I _like _being purple. It's not all gray, and you know it." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Besides, I have to save up my black balloons for Kurt's next birthday. Now _that _is an old man."

"Yeah, no kidding. Still lookin' hard at full body blue dye."

She rolled her eyes. "He's so vain. Be nice," she teased. "But _you're _in a good mood for such a very, very old man."

"I am," he agreed with a little smile. "Roll with it."

"I think I will," Kate decided, tipping Kade into his arms. "Howletts and Wagners!" she called over her shoulder as she ducked away, giggling madly, leaving him with the smiling little elfling with an overexcited tail.

"You're being a bad influence again," K told Logan over his shoulder, though she didn't look the least bit irritated as he let Kade down to play with the littlest kids.

"Blame Kurt," Logan replied, still smirking. "He can take it."

"It's _so _not his fault," K chuckled before she kissed him behind the ear. "At all. So don't give credit where it's not due."

Logan kept grinning as he pulled her into his lap and blatantly ignored the group around them as he got more involved with his wife.

Kurt teleported in after a moment with a grin as he pulled Kade up. "You two seem to be in high spirits."

"Lil' bit," K agreed.

Kurt laughed at that. "Well, it's not every day your young man turns seven," he said, gesturing to where James was playing with Kari as Kari insisted she wanted pink or purple smoke.

"That's not exactly it," Logan told him. "But that's a good enough reason too, I suppose."

"Then… it's not every day you have a birthday without a certain shadow," Kurt offered, though he was grinning and shaking his head at the pair of them, sure there was something more going on.

"And a green light," K added.

Kurt paused, and the grin widened that much more. "Ah," he said, nodding and chuckling to himself. "And that's why you've stolen my little boy. If you wanted to practice, you only have to ask."

"No, that's not it; we don't need the help there," she laughed.

"Of course not," Kurt said before he let out a laugh and pulled both of them into a warm hug.

"I'm sure you'll figure out when it all comes together," Logan told him. "Don't hold your breath, though."

"Perhaps I could strand you on an island with only winter clothes…"

"Or just a weekend in the cabin," K agreed.

Kurt grinned again. "Well, I'm sure I'll know when it comes through — but for now…" He grinned at Logan. "Congratulations, and happy birthday."


End file.
